


Cliché prompts

by xJane



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: And the others at some point, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 32,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xJane/pseuds/xJane
Summary: Prompts from the "50 cliché prompts" list.Mostly fluffy drabbles / previously posted on tumblr.Ch. 1 - Kissing in the rainCh. 2 - Hold my handCh. 3 - Wedding invitationCh. 4 - Dating? Us?Ch. 5 - Date savedCh. 6 - Worst idea everCh. 7 - Oh no there was only one bedCh. 8 - Secret keptCh. 9 - Sleep tightCh. 10 - Danger to my heartCh. 11 - Taking a bullet for youCh. 12 - Nightmare rescueCh. 13 - Stay the nightCh. 14 - Hot rideCh. 15 - Last minute kissCh. 16 - Worry shared, worry halvedCh. 17 - Late night needinessCh. 18 - Hooking upCh. 19 - Worthy prizeCh. 20 - Second chanceCh. 21 - I love youCh. 22 - Set upCh. 23 - True coloursCh. 24 - Anyone I know?Ch. 25 - High on your kiss
Relationships: Matteo Florenzi/David Schreibner
Comments: 96
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: Kissing in the rain and getting soaked before running inside laughing.

Summer has been, in Matteo’s opinion, nothing short of glorious.

It isn’t as if some sort of fairy has waved a magic wand and everything bad has been miraculously solved – Matteo’s dad is still an asshole who doesn’t give a fuck, his mom is still struggling, and Matteo still sometimes feels as if getting up and talking to people is akin to trekking up to the top of the Mount Everest, but there definitely has been lots of improvement.

Matteo isn’t carrying secrets any longer, isn’t desperately trying to hide things from his friends anymore, and has instead discovered how many people there are in his life who genuinely care about him.

And he has found David.

Davis is the biggest miracle of all.

After four months together, Matteo still sometimes feels like pinching himself when he wakes up plastered against David in the morning, or when they are playing table tennis with the boys and David actually almost loses because he can’t help but sneak in a kiss to Matteo.

The squad constantly teases them about it, but neither boy gives a shit about what the squad thinks. They talked about it, Matteo and David, very late one night when it had been too hot in David’s room to sleep, in hushed tones so as not to disturb Laura. Matteo had hesitantly brought it up, his constant need to be touching David somehow, and had asked David if he should tone it down. And David had been adamant, had told Matteo he needed to touch Matteo just as much as the other way around, and Matteo should never stop showing his love through his casual touches or exaggerated play fights. Their love language was touch, David had whispered, peppering Matteo’s face and chest with kisses, and Matteo had sighed into it and melted under David’s skilled hands.

And so they shamelessly are their clingy selves, they have gotten used to flip off the squad simultaneously when they are asked when they are gonna get officially surgically attached to each other, and soothe their lifelong touch-starved skins and hearts as much as they want to.

Tonight is no exception. They are on their way home, and even though they left Jonas’ early, so they would be in before the announced storm would break, their walk has taken way longer than it should, because they stopped every few minutes to kiss, not satisfied with just their entwined hands swinging between them, but needing to be closer, ever closer.

They shouldn’t be surprised, therefore, when they stand in the middle of the deserted street, about five minutes away from the flat share, pressed up against each other, kissing with abandon, David’s hands entangled in Matteo’s hair and Matteo pulling David closer with strong fingers on the other boy’s hips, when suddenly the skies open and the downpour starts – but they are nevertheless. They yelp when the heat building between them is suddenly quenched by icy raindrops, both of them drenched to the skin in a matter of seconds.

They look at each other, quivering droplets sticking to their eyelashes, and start laughing at the same moment.

And then, because even the first autumn storm of the year isn’t enough to extinguish the fire running through their veins when they are this close, they both lean towards one another in practiced synchronicity and start kissing again, tasting the rain on each other’s lips, their hands slipping on wet skin as they try to hold on to each other.

It isn’t the best kiss ever, both laughing too much and shaking their heads like wet dogs to keep the rain from running down their necks onto their backs and their teeth clattering from the cold, but neither of them cares much, as they keep trying to lick into each other’s mouth.

Matteo doesn’t know how long they have been standing there, wet to the bone, but still kissing and laughing into their kiss, when a cyclist comes splashing by, muttering swear words under his breath and sending a tsunami over the boys as he rides through a huge puddle of icy water.

Matteo shivers for real now, suddenly freezing, the weight of his soaked heavy jumper dragging him down, his jeans sticking to his legs. David doesn’t look like he is doing much better, tugging at his binder.

“Come on,” Matteo says, grabbing David’s hand – because why give up the comfort of touching David unless absolutely necessary – and starts running.

They enter the flat share a complete mess, water running down from them and creating puddles all over the hallway, both out of breath but laughing, laughing so loudly Hans wakes up and gets all grumpy when he notices the two drowned boys messing up the floors and the carpets and he scolds them, but they hold on to each other and manage to grind out an apology to Hans between bouts of laughter, and Hans gives up, shaking his head and mumbling something about butterflies deserving a spanking, and that just makes them laugh even more.

It takes them a while, but they finally find their way into the bathroom, peeling off their sodden clothes with difficulty – it’s not easy when the fabric is glued to wet skin and their fingers are not cooperating as they should because of the cold – but then they are standing under another jet of water, scorching hot this time, and they take only a minute to get warm again before they decide they have been apart for long enough now.

They kiss again, and this time it is much better, they are concentrating properly on each other, deepening the kiss until Matteo doesn’t know where he ends and David begins, until the hot water runs out and they wrap each other in big fluffy towels and make their way to Matteo’s bed.

And when they get there, they drop the towels and wrap themselves into the cozy duvet and each other, touching everywhere they can, as much naked skin pressed to naked skin as humanly possible, and this is how they want to be, how they find comfort, how they are home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: Hands brushing unexpectedly

Matteo is not ready for another day of torture.

It is like everything has conspired against him – the week after David is finally allowed to take off the bandages after his top surgery, the worst heatwave in history has hit Berlin, and it all coincides with Sam’s summer job at the ice cream stand by the lake, so the boys don’t even bother to try to come up with a different plan anymore. Their days blur together into an endless repetition of swimming and eating copious amounts of free ice cream.

It isn’t the ice cream that bothers Matteo. It isn’t even the swimming, necessarily, either.

It is just that David is so proud of the results of his surgery – or so happy he finally doesn’t have to spend his summers covered up anymore, Matteo is not sure – that he takes off his shirt almost as soon as they get off the metro in the morning, and doesn’t put it back on until they are ready to leave again.

And that is what bothers Matteo. He can’t tear his gaze away from the vast amounts of tanned skin that are suddenly available for his eyes to feast upon.

It is pathetic, he knows. He has finally gotten over his useless crush on his best friend, by developing an even bigger useless crush on his newest friend.

He remembers when Carlos introduced David to them, right before their Abitur, a year ago now. Matteo had been intrigued by the handsome boy, and intrigue had quickly blossomed into infatuation.

David has almost seamlessly become a part of their squad, his easy-going nature and teasing humour fitting right into the boys’ dynamics.

What they don’t know is that he has also seamlessly wormed his way into Matteo’s heart, made a home for himself under Matteo’s skin, occupied most of Matteo’s thoughts, waking and asleep.

Matteo wonders, though. He doesn’t understand how it is possible no one has called him out yet – on staring at David for minutes on end, on dazing out whenever David is telling them a story, with lots of toothy smiles and passionate gestures, on stuttering whenever David asks him a question. Maybe they all know and just decided not to talk about it – it would only embarrass David, anyway.

Because that is the worst about it all. David is so out of Matteo’s league it is ridiculous. Wherever they go, people are hitting on David – it had started with Leonie, still in high school, but there have been dozens after her. Not that David ever seemed interested in any of them, but – Matteo just knows that David could have anybody he wants, so why on earth would he ever settle for stupid old Matteo, who has no goals, no purpose, no drive? David would want somebody who could soar together with him, not somebody who would drag him down.

Matteo has finally enrolled in university, starting next fall, after his gap year which he had spent working in a restaurant a few days a week and doing mostly nothing else. He is a year behind the rest, and he fears he isn’t going to make it, he dreads the start of the semester, and yet – yet he would take it gladly, if it meant that summer would finally be over, and he wouldn’t have to see David being so excruciatingly beautiful right in front of him all day long.

Matteo sighs. It is only ten-thirty. The summer day still stretches long and lazy ahead of him, and with it his daily torture.

He remains seated on his towel, his eyes closed, trying not to locate David, whom he last saw flirting with a pretty brunette girl in a polka dot bikini over by the water fountains – trying to focus one something else, anything else. He vaguely decides he should go home early, go with Hans to a gay bar the latter has been extolling lately, and find a fling – his first gay kiss is way overdue at this point, and maybe it would help him get over David.

A shadow falls over him, blocking the merciless sun, and somebody shakes water droplets all around, splashing Matteo.

“Stop that, and move. You’re blocking my sun,” Matteo whines, not deigning the intruder worth a look, his eyes scrunched close.

A peal of laughter reaches his ears, and his heart skips several beats. He had assumed it was Abdi, trying to stand strategically in Sam’s line of sight, but he had been mistaken.

He screws his eyes closed even tighter, not wanting to see David – probably holding polka dot girl’s phone number, or something.

He hears rustling, but he refuses to give in to the temptation to look.

Then – suddenly, unexpectedly – he feels a hand brushing his own, and his heart now goes to the other extreme, and starts going crazy in a quick irregular rhythm that leaves Matteo breathless. He opens his eyes involuntarily, and looks straight into David’s face. Davis is looking at him with an adorable pink hinting on his cheeks and his eyes wide. His mouth is opened slightly and Matteo gets distracted by how deliciously red they are, how full and soft they look, how extremely – kissable. He feels his own skin flare up in heat, burned red not from the sun but from David, who is so close all of a sudden, too close – their pinkies still touching, resting on Matteo’s towel.

David lowers his eyes, and Matteo follows his gaze to their hands – and when he looks up again, David is blushing deeper, and he is biting his lip – and it only makes Matteo want to kiss it even more, to soothe the ache David is inflicting on it.

They sit, unmoving, David’s eyes on their hands, Matteo’s heart beating so loudly in his throat he is certain the boys can hear it all the way over to the jetty where they are cannonballing into the lake, and Matteo has no brain cell left to figure out what is going on – until Abdi suddenly appears, and flops down on Matteo’s other side, and is halfway through a long-winded rant about how Sam still refuses to go out with him before he narrows his eyes suspiciously.

“Wait a minute,” he accuses, “what the fuck is going on here? Why are the two of you sitting here hand in hand, red as tomatoes?”

Matteo blinks.

“H-hand in hand? What? We are not – we are not –”

David seems to have other plans, though.

“Go annoy Carlos, Abdi. I need to talk to Matteo,” he cuts off Matteo’s stuttering and moves the hand that was touching Matteo’s to shoo off Abdi, who looks like he wants to protest but then disappears in a huff.

Matteo looks at David, confused. David gets up, and grabs Matteo’s hand for real now, dragging him up on his feet, and not letting go as he starts walking briskly towards the shower building. Matteo has no time to react, follows blindly – and how fitting that is, he thinks, since he would follow David to the end of the world if David wanted him to.

David corners the building and stops then. They are out of sight from most of the area now, and they stand across from each other, close enough for Matteo to count David’s long, long eyelashes.

“Matteo,” David starts, then closes his mouth, again biting his lip.

Matteo can’t help it, and before he knows what he is doing, before he can stop himself, he reaches out a trembling hand and touches David’s mouth, stops him from worrying his lip even more.

And David jolts under Matteo’s touch, but then leans into it, and speaks up again.

“Matteo. I – tell me if I have got this all wrong, but I – I…”

He falters again, but the rare shot of braveness coursing through Matteo hasn’t worn off yet, and he runs his thumb over David’s lips, and David’s breath hitches, and then he moves faster than Matteo can track, and his hands are on Matteo’s face, and he pulls Matteo closer, and their mouths crash onto each other, and they kiss.

And Matteo stupidly thinks he doesn’t have to go pick up somebody at a bar for his first real kiss now, because this is happening, this is really happening, and then David’s tongue is running over Matteo’s lips, and he lets David in, and if he dies right now he will die happy.

He pulls back, after a minute, or an hour, he doesn’t know, and David is right there, looking as flustered and bewildered and thrilled as Matteo feels, and David laughs and kisses Matteo again, and Matteo thinks he has been foolish, wasting all this time, wishing for summer to end when he could have had this all along, but then he smiles into their kiss, and he thinks maybe it doesn’t matter, because this might be the beginning of something else, something beautiful, something bigger than he could ever imagine, and it’s all because of the boy he has in his arms, and maybe this is also a form of torture, sweet, exciting torture making his heart race. Matteo will sign up for it any day of the week.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: I need a date for this wedding

Against all odds, Matteo actually had fun tonight. He knows it’s all thanks to the boy he had on his side for most of the evening.

He looks at his date, dancing wildly amidst all Matteo’s cousins. He is so beautiful, Matteo thinks, dressed up in a blue suit for the occasion, his cheeks flushed from the heat inside the room, just enjoying himself freely.

He doesn’t realize how fond his gaze has gotten, how obvious his affection shines on his face.

Suddenly his nonna sits down next to him, startling him. She smiles at him, and then looks over to the dancefloor. Matteo does the same.

“That’s a fine young man you brought along, Matteo mio,” she says.

Matteo nods, because what else is there to do? She is right, after all.

“It’s clear you two love each other very much,” she continues, still tracking the movements of the dancers.

Matteo swallows uneasily. That’s what they have told everybody, at least. That they are in love. He doesn’t feel bad about lying to his father. His dad had been adamant that Matteo was not to bring a friend, when he had asked if he could bring Jonas along. Even a female friend was out of the question. According to his dad, if he wanted to bring somebody, it would have to be a proper date. He even had managed to utter the word boyfriend, although with some disgust in his voice. And Matteo was not going to come on his own, if he wanted to survive.

So he had told his friend he needed a date for this wedding.

He hadn’t told him he had dreamed about them going on a real date. He didn’t think it would be obvious to anybody that he wanted to.

His nonna seems to have more to say.

“He will be good for you. I’ve seen the way he watches you when you’re not looking. You should hold on to him, Matteo mio.”

Matteo wants to confess. Lying to his dad is one thing, but lying to his nonna feels all wrong.

As he opens his mouth, however, his new stepmother calls all unmarried people to the floor.

“Boys, too!”, she says, as she turns her back to the crowd and raises her bouquet high.

“Hurry, boy, get out there!”, his nonna says, as she ushers him to the floor.

He goes to stand next to his date and smiles at him. The flowers come sailing in a high arc through the air. At the same moment, they both reach out their arm. Their fingers close around the long stems, touching each other’s hand.

They stare at each other. Neither speaks a word.

But Matteo sees how the boy next to him looks at his mouth, and his eyes go dark. Matteo feels his heart jump up in his throat.

Then his nonna cheers.

“Hooray! I can’t wait for the invitation, boys!”

Matteo smiles. He doesn’t let go of the flowers, as his lips softly touch David’s.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: Everyone thinks we’re already dating, but we’re just best friends - oh wait.

“Damn, you guys,” David groans, watching Jonas cuddle Hanna, Carlos and Kiki making out at the edge of the couch, and Abdi and Sam doing their weird form of flirting involving lollipops, “you really make me feel single. It’s unfair. I want a girlfriend too. Or a boyfriend, I’m not picky.”

Six heads simultaneously turn into his direction. Kiki looks shocked, and Abdi’s mouth hangs open. Carlos blinks repeatedly.

It remains silent, and David feels ill at ease for some reason, although he doesn’t understand why. They’ve all known he is pan for ages, right?

“What the fuck, David?”, Jonas splutters. “Luigi is right here!”

David feels his confusion grow. What had Matteo to do with this? He looked over at the blonde boy next to him. Matteo shrugs, clearly just as confused.

“Okay?”, he says hesitantly.

“You don’t think it’s rude and mean to talk like that when he’s listening?”, Jonas continues, not making things any clearer.

“Like it would be better if he said it without Matteo there!”

That’s Kiki, and she sounds genuinely upset.

Matteo looks from one person to the next, and finally speaks up.

“What is the problem? Why can’t David say he wants a boyfriend or a girlfriend when I’m there?”

“He just can’t, whether you’re there or not!”, Kiki exclaims again.

David looks at Matteo again. Are they being pranked by the others somehow?

“Sorry, but why? Why can’t I?”

The boys look around, as if trying to figure out who should speak up. In the end, unsurprisingly, it is Abdi who decides to go for it.

“So, you guys mean that… you have an open relationship? Like you can sleep with other people?”

If that was supposed to explain the situation, something went horribly wrong. It’s like the others suddenly all speak a foreign language.

“What?”, David asks flatly.

“Like… you’re not exclusively together? Man, I couldn’t do it,” Carlos says incredulously. “I’d be way too jealous.”

Kiki cuddles up to him even closer in response.

Matteo opens his mouth, closes it again, then tries again to speak. He looks like a goldfish, David thinks, and he would laugh if he wasn’t so baffled.

“David… and I… are not together?”, Matteo then says, and it almost sounds like a question. “We are just friends.”

It is silent for a moment. And then everybody speaks at once.

“But we all thought…”

“You are literally always together!”

“Why won’t you admit you’re in love with each other? Everybody with two eyes can see it from miles away.”

“You sleep in eachother’s bed like every weekend!”

“Friends don’t wear one another’s clothes like you do, though!”

“With the way you’re always touching somehow, you can’t be not together. Just admit it already.”

“You mean you still haven’t figured out the two of you are meant to be?”

“The vibes say something else, guys!”

And at that… David looks at Matteo. Matteo looks at David. And they can see something flicker in each other’s eyes.

And David thinks… the others might be onto something.

He suddenly realizes how much he missed Matteo when he was in Italy over summer. How they facetime every evening for hours, even though they spend every free minute together already. How he doesn’t mind taking off his binder when Matteo is sleeping over. How beautiful Matteo is and how soft and how wonderful it feels to wake up with him.

And then he doesn’t want to be here with all the others anymore. He wants to go home with Matteo and talk about this and see if their friends are right, if they are indeed in love.

David thinks he might be. He thinks Matteo might be too. If David is lucky.

Matteo’s eyes are glassy when David looks up.

Then Matteo says, “I think David and I are going to go now.”

David smiles. He thinks he might be lucky.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: I’m going to save you from the terrible date you’re having.

Leonie was just doing what any good friend would do. She and Sara had the system down pat. Whenever Sara met up with somebody for the first time, Leonie would pass in the vicinity after thirty minutes or so, so that Sara could subtly signal her to get rescued if need be. And Sara did the same for her, obviously.

She knew David hadn’t asked them to extend the system to him – in fact, he had threatened to not ever speak to her again if she tried to – but what were friends for, right? Besides, ever since the three of them had met in their first semester at university, she couldn’t remember David going on a date even once. And from what he had told them, it was all very vague – some guy he met in his Social Activism class had set him up with a friend, if she recalled correctly.

It really ticked all the boxes, if you asked her. A friend who wasn’t used to dating, meeting somebody he didn’t know. Yes, she was definitely walking by the coffee shop, just in case.

And when she casually looked through the window, pretending to be studying the menu, it seemed like she had undeniably been right about this.

Because across from David sat nobody else than Matteo Florenzi.

She hadn’t seen him since their Abitur, three years ago, but she’d recognize that blonde mess of a hairdo and those blue eyes everywhere.

She couldn’t see David’s face from where she stood, but she just knew he must be searching for an escape route. There was no way on earth that her friend David, artistic, passionate, talented David, would be interested in a low-life stoner head who barely managed to get his Abi.

At least Matteo was out of the closet now, she thought, before she was spurred into action. She needed to help David, stat.

She fished her phone out of her oversized bag – when would she learn not to lug around everything and the kitchen sink, she tutted at herself, trying to feel for the familiar shape – and dialed David’s number.

He didn’t pick up immediately, and the call went to voicemail, but she was nothing if not persistent, so she hung up and tried again.

This time, he picked up. He sounded irritated. See, she triumphantly thought, he was not happy about his date at all. She would really have to get it through to him to trust her next time.

“What’s up?”, he grumbled impatiently. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

“It’s fine, David! I’m just calling so you’ll have an excuse to leave. Just play along.”

“What?” David sounded confused now, and the irritation was still audible in his voice.

“I know you want out. I can’t even imagine how horrible your date is going. Anyway, just make something up, okay? Like I just called to say your mom is in hospital, or whatever.”

“Huh? What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Okay, listen, I know you said you didn’t need me to come by, but be glad I did. Now you can leave without it being awkward.”

“You didn’t! Dammit, I especially asked you not to!”

“You can thank me later,” she said smugly. “Do you have it from here, then? I’ll wait for you across the street.”

“But why would I even –” The exasperation was dripping from David’s words. “Oh, fuck. Fine.”

He hung up, and so did Leonie, peering through the window. She saw David talk to Matteo, with lots of gestures, and Matteo first looked a bit non-plussed, before he shrugged, nodded and got up. He smiled at David before he walked off.

David watched him go for a few beats, and then he also stood up. Grabbing his jacket, he stormed out of the small venue, looking around for Leonie when he stepped out of the front door.

His face looked like storm when he spotted her on the sidewalk. It must have been a nightmare, Leonie pondered.

“That bad, huh? I’m sorry, David, I wanted to come sooner but –”

“What the fuck, Leonie? Why are you messing up my date?”

Huh? That was not what she had expected. She had expected David to be grateful and maybe a bit contrite – but he looked like he was angry?

She gazed up at him, too confused to speak.

“I’ve only been wanting to go out with Matteo since the beginning of the semester, ever since I first saw him hanging out with Jonas after class. Why are you messing it up?”

Wait. Did David really just say what she thought he said?

“You – you wanted to go out with Matteo Florenzi?”

“Of course! After one of our Social Activism classes, he was waiting for Jonas in the hallway, and I just – well, that’s not important now.” He blushed slightly. “Anyway, it took me weeks to get Jonas to agree to set us up, and even longer before Jonas could get Matteo to agree – wait a second. How did you know his name?”

“Jonas?”, Leonie asked weakly. “Your friend from that class is Jonas Augustin?”

“Yeah, why? Do you know him? Do you know Matteo?”, David replied, curiously.

“Uh, yeah. We were in high school together.”

David nodded, but still seemed to have more questions.

“And why did you pull that stunt? As I said, it took months before Matteo would even go out with me. I swear, if you have messed things up…”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I just thought – I mean, I wouldn’t have thought you two would hit it off… I mean, he wasn’t really my friend back then…”

“Well, you better behave, because he just went to get some to-go coffees and he’s coming out.”

True to David’s words, the slight tingling of the doorbell sounded and Matteo came out, a cup in each hand.

“Okay, David, I have your – oh, Leonie! Hi,” Matteo said awkwardly, and then paused, looking from one to the other, before seemingly putting one and one together.

“Oh, wait – _Leonie_ was your friend on the phone?”, he asked, directing the question to David.

“Yeah. I didn’t know she knew you, though.”

“We go quite some time back, yeah.”

A silence fell.

“How are you, Leonie? Sara told me you are studying to be a teacher,” Matteo tried hesitantly.

And that was news to Leonie.

“You have talked to Sara?”

“Uhm, yes? We talk quite often, actually. We even grab lunch together, sometimes. Didn’t she tell you?”

Leonie just stared at him. Matteo turned to David.

“I dated Sara in high school for a few weeks, when I was not out yet… It wasn’t fair towards her and I’m not proud of it, but we somehow managed to stay friends.”

Leonie shook her head repeatedly, attempting to get rid of the cobwebs that suddenly seemed to have taken over her brain.

“I didn’t know that… Uhm, anyway. Sorry for bothering you – but, uh, I have to go now…”

Go give Sara an earful, she thought, as soon as she was over the mortification of having saved David from a date he didn’t want to be saved from.

David nodded, and Matteo smiled at her.

“Glad to have seen you. Maybe we could become friends again, one day?”

It would probably be for the better, she thought, as she saw the heart eyes David and Matteo were making at each other. It looked like she would be seeing quite a bit of Matteo Florenzi in the future. She smiled back faintly and walked off.

Before she turned at the end of the street, though, she risked a short glance over her shoulder.

A blonde and a dark boy still stood on the sidewalk, but they had moved considerably closer to each other. In fact, it looked like they were about to kiss.

She quickly averted her eyes and turned the corner to give them some semblancy of privacy. It was only what every good friend would do, really.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: “Just tell me why you did it!” “Because I’m in love with you, okay!”
> 
> <3

David knew it was his worst idea ever. He knew he shouldn’t do it, but it was stronger than himself. He knew it would ruin everything, but he just couldn’t lose Matteo.

Matteo. His best friend since as long as they both could remember.

The had never kept a secret for each other. David had known Matteo was gay before anybody else, years ago, and he had kept Matteo’s secret faithfully. Matteo had shown him the same courtesy when David had told Matteo he wanted to transition. And when David had started the long process, Matteo had helped him choose a new name, and had used it without ever slipping up once.

It was straightforward between the two of them. They understood each other without many words, and acceptance was as simple as a nod, an easy ‘okay’, and nothing more was needed.

They knew everything there was to know about one another.

Except for that one thing, the one secret he had kept close to his heart for years now, patiently waiting until Matteo would be ready to come out officially.

He just had never counted upon the fact that Matteo would come out by introducing his boyfriend to the whole squad.

But that was exactly what had happened. Matteo had just shown up with a tall, blue-eyed, blonde guy, and when the boys had fallen silent upon spotting their linked hands, he had bluntly announced the facts.

“Michael, these are my friends, David, Jonas, Carlos, and Abdi. Guys, this is Michael, my boyfriend.”

David had spat out his drink. The others had needed a few seconds to digest the news, but then they had exploded into their usual chaos.

“Bro, when did you get a boyfriend?”

“More importantly, _how_ did you get a boyfriend? You have absolutely no game!”

“And you never felt the need to tell us you were gay before, huh?”

“You shouldn’t just assume he’s gay, bro. He could be bi, too.”

“Way to go, though, Luigi. Way to go.”

“Are you gay, then, Luigi, or what?”

“Doesn’t matter, he’s taken. More girls for us, either way.”

“Man, Michael, we can tell you _stories_ about Luigi…”

And amidst all the noise, Matteo had turned to David.

“Hey,” he’d whispered, “Thanks for keeping the secret all these years. But I guess I’m out now. I couldn’t have done it without you though,” hugging David briefly before turning to the boys again, and putting a firm stop to any potential embarrassing stories.

David knew he should have been happy for Matteo, out and proud, and with a boyfriend, too. But instead, he felt numb.

And that is why something inside him snapped when Michael turned to him, smiling politely, saying he had heard so much about David. And he decided to follow through on his worst idea ever.

“Nice to meet you, Michael. Although I am sure we won’t see each other often.”

The polite smile on the boy’s face faltered slightly.

“I am sorry? What? I wouldn’t keep my boyfriend from his best friend, if that is what you mean.”

David laughed, high and phony.

“Oh, no. I just mean you won’t be his boyfriend for very long.”

He took a sadistic pleasure in seeing the confusion grow in Michael’s eyes.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, honey,” David said, insincere concern lacing his voice. “You thought Matteo was out now? Oh, no, sorry to disappoint you. His dad is a homophobic dick, but Matteo needs his money. And his mom is very religious, and she’s also in a fragile state right now, so Matteo will not risk her health by telling her he’s gay. I’m afraid he’s just using you for a bit of fun. But he can be a lot of fun, take it from me.”

He winked suggestively. He felt the bile rise in his stomach as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth, and he wanted to take it all back, claim it was just his way to mess a bit with his best friend’s boyfriend, but he thought he might vomit if he opened his mouth again, so watched helplessly as Michael talked to Matteo, and Matteo just sat there, turning silent and small and sad, his shoulders hunched and his blue eyes dull.

And he still watched as Michael left, and Matteo came back to the table where the boys were still being their rambunctious selves. They didn’t even notice Matteo’s struggle to keep the tears at bay, so Matteo slid silently into the booth next to David, and David, feeling every bit the snake he was, put an arm around Matteo in consolation.

“What’s wrong?”, he asked.

“He – he broke up with me. Just like that. Couldn’t he have done it before we came here and I came out to everybody, then?”

“I’m – I’m so sorry, Matteo…”

“And what did I do wrong? He just said it wouldn’t ever work out. Why, David? I didn’t do anything, wrong, did I? Or am I just not good enough?”

The tears shone in Matteo’s blue eyes, and they were like pools in which David would drown willingly. He couldn’t stand it. He hurt his best friend, out of spite and selfishness. He needed to come clean, confess to his actions of tonight – and the reasons behind them.

He took a deep breath.

“I think I may have said some things to him that were not true, and which scared him away.”

Matteo looked at him as if he just had grown an extra head.

“What? Oh, I see. You are just trying to cheer me up, David, but that’s not necessary, I mean, I guess I’ll just have to get over the fact that nobody will ever love me and –”

“Teo. I’m not trying to cheer you up. I chased Michael off. I – I told him you were not interested in a relationship and were just using him for some fun.”

“You – what?”

The incredulity in Matteo’s voice made David feel even more guilty. He tried to grab Matteo’s hand, but the latter wasn’t having any of it, and shook off David’s arm, too, planting his hands on his knees and looking David straight in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Matteo, I didn’t mean to –”

“You didn’t mean to lie to my boyfriend? Or you didn’t mean to break up the two of us? Cut the crap, David. Just tell me why you did it!”

Matteo was full-on angry now, and he actually yelled the last sentence. This finally got the attention of the other boys, who looked up anxiously. David wondered if any of them had ever heard Matteo yell before. Even David had only heard Matteo shout once before, at his father the day the latter had come back to pick up his stuff, three weeks after leaving his teenage son and unstable wife alone.

Three pairs of eyes turned towards Matteo and David now, and David swallowed.

“Why, David? Just tell me why,” Matteo repeated, at a much lower volume, tiredness speaking from his words, his posture, his entire being.

“Because I’m in love with you. Because I’ve loved you for years, okay?”

David almost choked out the words, but his eyes didn’t leave Matteo. All colour drained from Matteo’s face, and he opened his mouth, only to close it again without speaking a word.

It is, in fact, Jonas who broke the silence.

“Hey, uh, boys, let’s go. Call me later, Luigi.”

Carlos and Abdi got the hint, and they stood up, hastily collecting their phones and jackets and scarves and hats. David thought Abdi was wearing Jonas’ gloves, and Carlos had just grabbed a bunch of clothes without actually putting them on, and in a matter of seconds, the boys had disappeared.

Matteo was still staring at him, not moving, not speaking, so David tried again.

“I love you, Teo… I know I shouldn’t have done it, I know I should have been happy for you, but I just –”

“You’ve been in love with me for years?”, Matteo interrupted, forming the words carefully, as if this is the only bit of information he had retained.

“Yes. Yes, Matteo. I know it’s not an excuse, and I swear I’ll make it right again, I’ll call Michael and explain it was a lie, just give me his number and –”

“Why did you never tell me then?”

“What? Oh – uh, I – I didn’t want to put pressure on you. I didn’t know how you felt about me, and I didn’t want to lose you, and even if you could ever see yourself giving me a chance, you weren’t ready to come out yet and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to for my sake… I know I fucked everything up now, and I understand if I lost you anyway because of this. But I swear I will call him, Matteo, and I won’t stand in your way ever again, just… just don’t cut me out of your life completely, please?”

Matteo didn’t answer, and David felt his stomach sink as dread slithered clammily down his spine. Of course, Matteo would not forgive him. He was just about to start begging again, when Matteo spoke, softly.

“I love you too.”

David felt sucker-punched straight into the gut.

“Matteo?”

“I just didn’t think I could have you…”

David wasn’t sure if this was reality, or whether he had somehow entered a parallel universe.

“But you can! God, you can, Teo!”

Matteo nodded, seemingly lost in thoughts. David decided to push his luck. If he was indeed in a dream, he might as well make the most out of it. He took Matteo’s hands in his. Matteo didn’t pull back this time, and David considered it a good sign.

“So… uhm… Can you forgive me, then?”

Matteo looked up, then, and his beautiful eyes had found their sparkle again.

“I don’t know… It all depends…”

“On?”, David asked, his heart beating rapidly as he awaited Matteo’s answer.

“How good you kiss,” Matteo smirked, and David laughed, carefree and bright.

“No pressure,” he murmured, teasingly, as he leaned in, and finally – finally – captured Matteo’s lips.

This was by far the best idea he ever had, he thought, before all rational thought left him completely.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "There’s only one bed and we sleep as far away as possible from each other but wake up cuddling"
> 
> <3

It sucked when all of your friends were dating one another. Matteo should have thought about that before he agreed to go on this trip, though, because now, it was clearly too late.

When they had arrived yesterday, Jonas and Hanna had claimed the first bedroom, then Carlos and Kiki the next. Sam had grumbled a bit about being the only girl left, but she had quickly agreed to share with Abdi. And that had left Matteo and David.

And it wouldn’t even have been a big deal to share with David, it could even have been fun, Matteo had thought, if only they hadn’t opened the door to the last available room and discovered there was only one bed.

They had managed to be all polite and grown-up about it. It was a big bed, and they would each pick a side, and not disturb each other.

There had been a bit of a problem when it came to getting ready for sleeping, though. David had been hesitant about taking off his binder in Matteo’s presence, but Matteo had not wanted to condemn David to an uncomfortable and restless night. In the end, they had worked out a plan. Matteo had used the bathroom first, and gone to bed. He had turned off all the lights except for one small lamp on David’s side of the bed, and he had promised he would not look when David came back in boxers and a big t-shirt, binderless for the night. David had ducked under the blanket and had pulled it tightly around him, and they had laid with their backs towards another when they had fallen asleep.

It would all have been perfectly fine.

Except Matteo just woke up with his arms around David and David’s head on his naked chest.

He guesses that thoroughly goes against his solemn pledge not even to look at David. He betrayed David and his friend would never trust him again.

He should get out of this before David wakes up.

He takes stock of their position. His arm is looped under David’s shoulder and curved back up, his hand resting on David’s back. Their legs are entangled and David’s head is right over Matteo’s heart, his hand next to it on Matteo’s chest. He is still sleeping soundly, soft snores the only sound in the room, but the light is streaming in through the big window, and Matteo has no clue how long it will be before David will open his eyes.

He cannot let David find them like this.

Okay.

Matteo needs to do this, and do it fast, but methodically, so as not to wake David up.

Legs first. Slowly, Matteo starts to retract his leg, trapped between David’s. He has to move achingly slow, because David starts to move a bit when Matteo jostles him too much. After a few torturous minutes, his leg is free.

He takes a deep breath.

David mumbles against his chest, something intelligible.

Matteo needs to operate faster now, because David moves quite a bit now, and the light is hitting him directly. It can’t be long before he wakes up.

Only he has no idea how to go about it.

He thinks maybe he can use his free hand to move David’s hand from his chest, so he tries that. He gently grabs David’s hand and wants to put it to rest on David’s hip, when a sleep-groggy David turns his palm up and squeezes Matteo’s hand.

He whispers again, and this time Matteo hears what David is saying.

“Matteo…”

He stills immediately. Did this just happen? Is David holding his hand and sighing his name?

Matteo’s heart beats erratically under David’s cheek.

He wonders if he is really awake. It certainly feels a lot like a dream.

“David?”, he breathes.

David blinks once, twice, and then his eyes open wide.

“Matteo?”

They stare at each other. Neither moves. The curtains move in a slight breeze and dust dances in the rays of sunlight.

Matteo thinks he’s never seen anything as beautiful as David.

“Oh, fuck!”

David seems to realize he has been sleeping on Matteo and is gripping his hand like it’s a lifeline. He starts to move away.

“Matteo, I’m so sorry! Shit, I didn’t mean to…”

Matteo, for once in his life, is quick to interrupt.

“I don’t mind.”

David stills at that, still cuddled up against Matteo.

“You don’t?”

Matteo shakes his head.

“You can come closer, too. I mean – if you want…”, he ends, suddenly uncertain if he is reading this whole thing right.

The silence deepens, and Matteo starts to speak again, and move away from David.

“Or – I’m sorry – forget I said anything…”

But David stops him.

Then he smiles, and leans towards Matteo, and kisses him ever so softly before he puts his head back on Matteo’s heart again.

“Let’s stay a bit longer, then.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Secret relationship"
> 
> <3

“We have to stop,” Matteo moans into David’s mouth.

His hands, however, contradict his own words, as they slide down into David’s waistband, clutching David’s ass and pulling his boyfriend even closer towards him.

“Don’t wanna,” David mumbles, sliding a leg in between Matteo’s and pressing his knee up slightly against Matteo. Matteo groans in response and kisses David again, diving in hungrily.

“Somebody could come in any minute, though,” he pants, undulating his hips against David’s knee, frantically chasing the delicious pressure against his swelling dick.

“Don’t care,” David whines, and he tries to distract Matteo again by licking his neck, making Matteo shiver and briefly close his eyes.

But he knows David doesn’t want to be caught any more than Matteo does. If their boss catches them, they both will be fired for breaking the office policy.

“Later,” he breathlessly promises, reluctantly removing his hands from David’s warm skin, pressing a last more or less chaste kiss to David’s delectable mouth.

David grumbles a little, but then steps away from the wall he had pinned Matteo against, and tries to get his hair back into order. Matteo grins at him, not even bothering to try to tame his blonde mess. Luckily, he doesn’t brush it in the morning either, so none of their colleagues will give him a second look.

He takes a last lingering look at David and creaks open the door slightly, peering out in the hallway before stepping out nonchalantly.

Just as he sits down behind his desk again, his phone vibrates. He checks it surreptitiously and starts blushing fervently when he sees the picture David had apparently taken this morning in Matteo’s small bathroom, the mirror fogged up and blurring David’s body a bit, but Matteo can still make out David’s muscles, his abs and his pecs and his flexed biceps on the arm holding the phone, his plump lips just visible, and there are still some drops rolling down his body after David’s shower. Matteo’s eyes glide down the path one of these drops has taken, down to where the image is cut off just before it could get really interesting.

He hides behind his desk and plots retaliation, smiling widely as he resumes checking endless lines of code.

He knows they can’t keep doing this forever. One of them will have to start looking for another job soon.

But for now, they live for the thrills. The stolen moments in the storage room. The glances when they have to pass each other’s department during the day. The conversations in the lunch room, asking each other what their weekend plans are, and making up outrageous stories on Mondays, because they can't tell their colleagues they haven’t left their bed for the past 48 hours.

They are just in a constant lustful daze. The continuous teasing, the playing with fire – it makes them so damn horny. As soon as they are alone, they are all over each other.

The funniest part is playing their coworkers. There are two camps. Some firmly believe the two youngest employees belong together, and are constantly trying to pair them up. At team building days, or whenever somebody from coding and somebody from graphic design is needed on a project, or even by trying to get them to sit next to each other at lunch. Both their team leaders fall in this camp, and this has led to many stolen kisses in meeting rooms, working on various projects they’ve been assigned to together. The other camp is of the opinion that sporty, ambitious, outspoken David and easygoing, borderline lazy, timid Matteo would never work together. Matteo and David both know bets are going all over the office, on whether they will end up together, and if so, when.

They haven’t decided yet whether they are gonna try to rig it and win the pot themselves.

For now, Matteo just contends himself by sending David an email. Subject line: How many times do you want to come before dinner today?

He checks the clock. It is less than two minutes before Davis appears, carrying some folders – likely empty – and coming over to Matteo’s desk.

“Sorry, Matteo, can I disturb you for a second? We were wondering about the possibility of changing some of the programming for this section here…”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Matteo chirps, smirking.

David bends over, opening one of the folders. It is indeed empty.

“How many do you think you can provide, Florenzi?”, David hisses into Matteo’s ear.

Matteo grins only wider.

“This will take a bit of rework, but I can probably do it by next week,” he says, then whispers, “Have I ever disappointed, Schreibner?”

David swallows.

“Oh, no problem. That would be perfect timing, really. Thanks, Matteo. I know I can always count on you, whatever I need.”

Matteo splutters at the heavy innuendo in the last words. David grins, and saunters off, his empty folders left on Matteo’s desk.

His team leader nods approvingly.

“Thanks for taking that, Matteo. I know we all have a lot on our plate already, so it’s appreciated. And I’m sure David is grateful too for all your help. Maybe he should take you out for lunch one day as a way of thanking you, don’t you think?”

Matteo blushes, but doesn’t trust himself to reply.

Ninety more minutes before he can go home and figure out for himself how many times David wants to come before dinner.

Unless he can lure David into the bathrooms between now and then, maybe…

A hundred lines of code, he decides. And then a reward. A tempting, tasty, thrilling reward. And maybe this time he won’t stop David.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Cuddling in comfortable silence before murmuring I love you"
> 
> <3

It’s cold and dark by the time David gets out of the library. He loves college, really, but the workload is getting heavier by the week and he’s just spent the whole day in the library, doing research for an essay due before Christmas break, instead of having Saturday off with his boyfriend.

Matteo had been working a lot too recently, and he had busted his ass off to be able to get this Saturday off from the restaurant where he was doing his apprenticeship. He had been looking forward to today for ages, telling David excitedly about how they would have a leisurely breakfast at the new café near the flat share, how they could go shopping for Christmas presents together or explore some abandoned buildings in the afternoon, maybe see a movie in the evening, even though David always picked obscure arthouse movies that Matteo didn’t necessarily care for. Matteo had been so happy about just getting to spend the day together he didn’t even care what they would do, and David had felt like the worst boyfriend in the world when he had cancelled, late yesterday night. And Matteo had been understanding, had even offered to come with David to help, but David had not wanted to ruin what might be Matteo’s only free Saturday until after the holidays.

He regrets it now, cold and tired and hungry after hours in the drafty library. He had thought he would need a couple of hours, at the most, and he would be able to meet Matteo for dinner, at least, but it is now way too late to call Matteo, who has an early shift tomorrow.

David hates it. They haven’t seen each other for more than an hour here and there over the past two weeks, and it sucks. David isn’t quite himself when he doesn’t get his Matteo time in.

Not for the first time he thinks about how it would be so much better if they would live together. They would at least see each other in the mornings, before they both started their busy days, and get to sleep in each other’s arms every night. Matteo could leave David some healthy food in the fridge, so he wouldn’t have to resort to granola bars and sour candy, and David could do Matteo’s laundry, and leave him David’s own sweaters to wear on days when Matteo feels blue. And they wouldn’t have to worry about sisters or roommates wanting to talk or watch a movie or play a board game when all they really wanted to do was lie skin to skin and breathe in each other.

He sighs, as he climbs the winding stairs up to his flat. Matteo has left him a message almost an hour ago, saying he was exhausted and was gonna go to bed, with lots of heart eye emojis and a ‘missing you so much it hurts’ at the end. It went straight through David’s heart. He knows Matteo doesn’t hold anything against David, but he hates that he ruined their beautiful day together. Who knows when they will find the time to be together over the next hectic week.

He drops his bag heavily near the front door, and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and take his clothes off. He traipses to the bed in just his boxers, shivering, and not looking forward to a cold bed.

But when he slides under the covers, he is met with warmth and a softly snoring body. His heart leaps up when he recognizes the pale skin and the blonde hair, and he curls up to Matteo, who is waking up slightly and watching David groggily and bleary-eyed, but with his sexy half-smile on his lips.

“What are you doing here?”, David asks softly, pulling Matteo as close as he can.

Matteo hums happily, burrowing closer to David, resting his head on David’s chest.

“Missed you so much. Asked Laura if I could stay,” he mumbles into David’s skin.

“I’m so sorry, Teo,” David says, filled with remorse. “I should have planned better, now I ruined our day off together…”

“’s Okay,” Matteo replies, lifting his head and looking David in the eyes. “This is good. Being with you is good.”

And David feels his heart overflow, there is so much love inside him for this boy that he cannot contain it, it engulfs him and Matteo and still it spreads, David thinks it’ll paint the whole town and it still doesn’t feel like enough.

“Teo,” he starts, because he cannot help himself any longer, he missed Matteo so much and he feels he will die if he has to survive the next few weeks on hasty kisses and video calls when they are both too tired to actually say much, “I want to live with you. I want us to find a flat for just the two of us. I can’t stand not spending every second I can with you.”

Matteo blinks, and stares at David, and for a minute, he is afraid that he went too fast, that he scared off Matteo, but then Matteo grins widely.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

David thinks he might be dreaming, but Matteo nods, and smiles, and presses a kiss on David’s skin.

“Yes. I’d love that. I’d get this every night if we lived together.”

And that’s all they need to say on the subject. They don’t know when they’ll have time to go hunting for a place, but those are worries for another time. For now, they know they both want to be together, start a new phase, commit to each other even more fully, even though they know they are already committed as much as is possible. They don’t need to discuss the details. It is enough to know it'll happen, as soon as they can arrange it.

Silence falls again, as Matteo closes his eyes and drifts off into slumber once more.

David holds him, traces patterns on the warm skin, kisses Matteo’s shoulder repeatedly.

This is already home, he thinks.

He whispers it out loud in the quiet room, thinking Matteo is asleep.

“You are my home, Teo, my life, my everything. I love you.”

And Matteo, even in his state of half-sleep, murmurs back, voice soft but filled with tenderness, “Love you too. Now sleep. Love more tomorrow.”

And that is how it’ll be every day, soon, David thinks. Love each other before they fall asleep, and love each other more when they wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Everyone thinks I should stay away from you because you’re dangerous"
> 
> <3

“Dude, you’re staring at him _again_.”

Jonas punched Matteo’s shoulder hard, and ignored Matteo’s surprised yelp.

“Yeah, well,” Matteo shrugged. It wasn’t the first time Jonas caught him staring at David Schreibner, and it wouldn’t be the last, either. David Schreibner was the hottest guy on campus, by popular agreement, and the hottest guy in all of Berlin, if you asked Matteo.

“He’s no good, Luigi,” Jonas scoffed.

Matteo knew the rumours going around. David Schreibner was supposed to be a bad boy, dangerous even. Nobody knew anything about him, he hardly spoke, had no friends. People said he had been in a juvenile prison, or a mental hospital – which Matteo didn’t think was an appropriate subject to tattle about, if it was true. There was even some hushed gossip about him murdering his parents. Obviously, that was spread by somebody trying to be dramatic. A murderer would not be walking around campus being all dark and handsome. Not to say David Schreibner didn’t look the part, dressed in all black, his nose ring glinting in the sun, never smiling.

Matteo glanced over again.

He jolted when his gaze connected straight with David Schreibner. He lowered his eyes immediately, thinking he must have imagined it, but when he cautiously looked up again, David Schreibner was still looking straight at Matteo. He felt a blush starting to creep up towards his cheeks, and he sat transfixed, not able to look away until Jonas punched him again, even harder than before.

“Stop staring at him! There are hundreds of hot boys around, pick one of them to crush upon. Schreibner is dangerous.”

Matteo tore his eyes away from the gorgeous sight in front of him, and hummed noncommittally at Jonas’ words. First of all, there weren’t hundreds of good-looking boys on campus. Maybe a dozen or so, but even then, nobody could hold a candle to David Schreibner. Not that it mattered, because David Schreibner was way out of Matteo’s league – if he even liked boys to start with. Although – Matteo risked a quick glance again – David Schreibner was still staring at him. Jonas noticed too, and threw the other boy a murderous look, before he stood.

“I have class now, but I’m serious. Stay away from Schreibner, Luigi, please.”

Matteo nodded at Jonas, but his eyes wandered over almost as if they had a will of their own. Jonas scoffed again, but seemed to think there was nothing more he could do, and left for class, leaving Matteo to his work.

Matteo opened up his research book, and set about to finish his essay so he could stop worrying about it. He couldn’t help himself, though – he could almost feel a pair of dark eyes on him, and he looked up and connected with David Schreibner again. He stared openly at the boy. Tanned skin. Curly hair. Dark eyes, with long eyelashes. Matteo wished he could watch from closer by, see how the lashes fluttered on the boy’s cheek as he closed his eyes, check out how many hues were hidden in those dark pools.

He broke the contact first, feeling all flustered about the direction his thoughts were going, and tried to focus on his books.

Not that it worked – his mind kept wandering to the other boy, even though Matteo kept his eyes firmly on his essay.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, and somebody sat down on the chair Jonas had occupied earlier.

Matteo looked up, and saw the myriad of sparkles in the eyes he’d been admiring before. He noticed something different, though – a faint blush on the olive skin, a half-smile on the plush red lips.

“Hi,” David Schreibner said, sounding a bit unsure. “I’m David.”

“I know,” Matteo replied, slightly star-struck.

“Uhm,” David hedged, “What’s your name?”

“Oh!”

Matteo felt like a complete idiot.

“It’s Matteo, uh, Matteo Florenzi.”

The smile on David’s face widened, and Matteo was transfixed. He could die right there and then, watching David Schreibner smile. His eyes lit up, his face glowed, and Matteo was certain there couldn’t be a less dangerous person on earth than David Schreibner. Mysterious David was hot. This David was hot, and cute – no, adorable.

They sat for a minute, staring at each other, in silence. Then Matteo spoke up.

“Did you want anything?”

David seemed to startle, and began talking, rushing out the words.

“I, uh, I noticed you sitting here and I – well, I just thought you looked gorgeous so I thought I’d – I mean, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything – fuck.”

The blush on his cheeks deepened, and his eyes flitted all over the table, avoiding Matteo’s gaze.

Matteo’s smile grew incredibly wider. David Schreibner was shy. David Schreibner just called Matteo gorgeous. David Schreibner was here, talking to Matteo, smiling.

It felt like an impossible dream, and Matteo sneakily pinched his arm, almost mewling at the sharp pain. No dream, then. Or all his dreams come true, in the form of one delectable boy.

Matteo decided to go for broke.

“Do you want to get some coffee with me? Like, right now?”

David looked up, his big brown eyes boring into Matteo’s.

“You mean, like – like a… a date?”

Matteo laughed.

“Yes. I mean, if you want.”

Wordlessly, David nodded. Matteo started to put his stuff in his backpack while David waited, and they walked over to David’s table together to collect David’s things.

As they left the library together, Matteo felt all eyes on them, and he could hear some furtive whispering behind their backs. He couldn’t care less, but David seemed to hunch down his shoulders a bit when somebody said quite loudly ‘Is that _David Schreibner_? I’ve never seen him with anybody else before!’.

Matteo leaned over to David.

“Wanna give them something to really talk about?”, he asked, slily.

David looked at him, eyes big and questioning.

Matteo took a deep breath and grabbed David’s hand, tugging him along. He paid no attention to the gasps echoing through the library, or the eyes burning on his back.

He was going on a date with the softest, hottest boy on campus. So let them stare, he thought. He had something much better to stare at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "You took a bullet for me"
> 
> <3

Video games nights lately have been quite different than before. For one, whenever there is a break in the game, Matteo crawls all over David, folding his whole body onto David’s lap, into David’s arms, and cannot be enticed to move at all. He even declines to come to the balcony for a smoke more often than not, remaining comfortably cuddled up to his boyfriend instead. Secondly, the boys are all playing for second place now, since David beats them all every time.

Tonight is no exception. David has won every race they’ve held so far, and Matteo has been all over David whenever he had the chance.

The others don’t even comment on either fact anymore. The used to be confident that they would manage to beat David at some point, but after six months of gaming together, they have given up hope. And for David and Matteo being glued together - well, occasionally they still make a teasing remark, but neither of the two seems to give a damn about that, so it’s not all that much fun.

Either way, so far, it’s just a normal hang out with the squad.

They’ve all had a few beers, and they are really getting into the game now, ribbing Abdi for currently being last in the ranking, trailing Matteo by a few points.

They are all focusing on the race. They are nearly at the finish line, and the only sounds heard are the clicking of their controllers. David is way ahead, obviously, and Matteo is in the second position, ready to get a bigger lead and push Abdi further back in the last position, when suddenly Abdi hollers.

He fires off a rocket at David, and starts cheering already. There is no way David will be able to come back from this, with the finish line only seconds away. But then Matteo swerves, right into the path of Abdi’s rocket. It hits his little Luigi figure straight on, and the crash is spectacular. David passes the finish line, and lifts his hands in victory. Matteo finishes last, which means he is now also last in the overall ranking, but Abdi doesn’t seem to be happy about having overtaken Matteo.

“Matteo, bro, what was that about? Why did you do that? Didn’t you see that rocket? That was meant for David!”

“I know,” Matteo shrugs, putting down his controller, sipping his beer calmly.

“So why did you suicide yourself, then? Man, I wanted David to lose at least one race tonight!”

Matteo says nothing, and suddenly David plants a loud kiss on his lips.

“You took a bullet for me, baby?”, he asks, a bit smugly.

“You hate losing,” Matteo simply replies, chasing David’s mouth.

“Oh. My. God”, Carlos declares, emphasizing each word. “You lost on purpose to let your boyfriend win? You are disgusting!”

“He’s not,” David says between kisses. “He is sweet and adorable. Don’t worry, babe, I will reward you tonight.”

“Oh, fuck, shut up!”, Abdi yells, covering his ears dramatically. “We definitely don’t want to know about how you’ll reward him.”

“I want to know, though,” Matteo answers with a grin.

Chaos ensues, as the boys all start shouting at them to keep their bedroom activities in the bedroom.

David grins at Matteo. A look passes between them, and they wordlessly agree on their next action.

When the boys have calmed down, David speaks up, quietly but clearly, his eyes sparkling.

“Keep it to the bedroom? So you guys don’t want to know we did it on that couch over there -” Jonas leaps up, looking repulsed, “or on the table, last weekend?”

Abdi snatches the beers and the snacks from said table, horrified.

“Not the table, guys! We put our food on there!”

David sniggers, and Matteo looks unimpressed as he curls up on David’s lap.

“You guys are revolting,” Jonas says, rolling his eyes. “Nothing is holy to the two of you. I am half-tempted to just leave, but you would just get it on right there on the carpet if we did.”

A long beat passes. Matteo looks at David. David looks at Matteo. Then they both start giggling uncontrollably.

“Oh, man,” Carlos mutters darkly. “Let’s go, guys. This evening is ruined anyway.”

“Remind me to bring disinfectant next time we game over here,” Jonas says bluntly, as he gathers his coat and scarf.

Matteo watches them leave, still complaining loudly, from his position between David’s legs.

“So,” he says, as he hears the front door click. “I took a bullet for you.”

“That you did,” David replies, his eyes dark, his voice low. “Did you want that reward now, then?”

“Mmmmm, yes, please,” Matteo murmurs, his lips on David’s skin, his hands already slipping under David’s waistband. “But for the boys’ sake, maybe we should take it to the bedroom...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Jolting awake after a nightmare and being comforted"
> 
> <3

“Matteo! Matteo, wake up!”

David shook Matteo brusquely, but Matteo kept trashing. The tears ran over his cheeks, and he kept whimpering the same words over and over again, fear lacing them.

“Please… Please, don’t hurt him… No, please don’t…”

“Matteo! It’s just a nightmare, wake up!”

David shook Matteo’s limp body as hard as he could, frantically trying to get through to his boyfriend, and finally, Matteo’s eyes jolted open and he stared at David with a wild look in them.

“It was just a nightmare, baby… There is nobody here but me. You’re safe.”

Matteo gaped at David, breathing heavily, his hands coming up to cradle David’s face.

“He was gonna hurt you… I couldn’t save you…”

“Shhhh,” David mumbled, pressing a kiss on Matteo’s temple. “I’m here, I’m safe, and you are safe too. It was only a nightmare.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually, Matteo calmed down. His breathing slowed and his eyes no longer looked like those of a frightened animal.

“Get some more sleep, baby…”, David suggested, but Matteo immediately bolted upright, his muscles tense and his eyes full of fear.

“I don’t want to go back into that dream! It was horrible, he was going to kill you, you were crying out in pain and I couldn’t get to you, I kept begging –”

“Hey,” David interrupted, his voice low and gentle, “it’s okay. I am not hurt. But you need to get some sleep, baby, you have that big test tomorrow and –”

Matteo shook his head violently, and David realized he wasn’t getting anywhere. Matteo seemed dead set against sleeping, and David knew he would need to be well-rested. So it seemed they were at an impasse.

“Okay,” he said, “okay, so no sleep. But you should at least try to rest a bit. Relax.”

He could tell Matteo did his best, but the adrenalin coursing through him made him jittery. Suddenly, David had an idea.

“Hey, baby,” he whispered, “why don’t you lie down on your belly, and I give you a backrub, huh? You don’t have to sleep, if you don’t want to, but maybe it’ll help take the stress away. Sound good?”

Matteo looked a bit warily at him, but complied without a word.

David knelt on the mattress next to Matteo’s prone body, and slowly put his hand on his boyfriend’s bare back. Matteo’s pale skin was smooth under his fingers, and David admired the contrast between his own tanned hands and Matteo’s back. He started moving slowly. He didn’t really know what he was doing, but he let his palms glide over the shoulder blades, down to the waistband of Matteo’s boxers, and back up again. Matteo kept his body stiff and rigid, and David didn’t think his movements were helping Matteo relax at all, so he tried a different technique. He lifted his hand palms and instead put only his fingertips on Matteo’s back, letting them dance around, walking them up and down rapidly but lightly. He let them dip into the valley right on top of Matteo’s spine, feeling the bone between them. He did the same on his boyfriend’s shoulder blades, feeling for the bone and following it with his fingers.

Matteo’s body slowly went slack, and his breathing got slower, heavier.

David took this as his cue to put his palms down again, and he rubbed them down on the skin, making circular movements. He could feel Matteo’s muscles move under them, and occasionally Matteo grunted a bit.

“Shit, am I hurting you?”, David asked alarmed after a particularly loud moan, but Matteo murmured for David to continue.

It was mesmerizing, David thought, to see his hands glide effortlessly over Matteo’s body, up and down, playing with the whisps of hair in Matteo’s neck, then softly tickling Matteo’s sides, before teasing his waistband again. He wondered why he had never done this before. It felt good, Matteo soft and pliant under his hands, his skin warm. The only sounds in the room were the sporadic creaking of the bed when one of them shifted their weight a little, and Matteo’s moans, which became louder and more frequent as David continued.

David hoped his massage was relaxing for Matteo, because, to be honest, the effect on David was something completely different. He felt himself getting wet, and he wanted to straddle Matteo so he could press against Matteo’s ass to get some friction going, but he told himself to ignore it. Matteo needed to rest. He focused on his hands, but it didn’t really help the matter. Why had he never noticed before how sensual it was to let his hands follow the paths of Matteo’s body? He had never realized how Matteo’s skin smelled, warm and fresh like dew on a grassy field in the first sunshine of the day. He got lost in his thoughts, and he barely noticed how Matteo’s moans got higher, or how he started wriggling with every move David’s hands made, or how Matteo started slowly bucking his hips. All he could do was stare at Matteo’s skin, mesmerized.

Suddenly, Matteo flipped them over, and in one swift movement he had straddled a supine David. David shrieked, but when he felt Matteo grinding into him, he immediately got with the program. Matteo was hard, and David noticed with a start he was a lot wetter than he had realized.

He smirked up at Matteo, a clear challenge in his eyes, and Matteo groaned, letting his forehead fall against David’s.

“You drive me mad,” Matteo whispered before claiming David’s mouth in a hungry kiss.

For one fleeting moment David remembered his quest of relaxing Matteo, and he had to admit he failed horribly.

But when Matteo laid spent and sated in his arms later, his body supple and boneless on David’s chest, his breathing slow and even and his eyes closed in bliss, David wondered why he hadn’t tried this tactic from the start – it had undeniably gotten the job done, and David definitely wouldn’t complain about the added advantages for himself.

“You should have nightmares more often,” he sighed through his post-orgasmic bliss, and Matteo laughed, but he didn’t disagree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Friends with benefits and both people catching feelings"
> 
> <3

Matteo left, and David waved cheerily. He waited until he heard the front door close before he sank back on his bed, hid his face in the pillow, and beat futilely into the mattress.

It didn’t help in the slightest. The empty, hollow feeling inside didn’t vanish. Everything felt tainted somehow, and even the joyful feelings - those that used to wash over him whenever he was close to Matteo - seemed dulled, weakened.

He should have known this would never work out – never mind the fact he had been drunk and Matteo had been high when they came up with this cursed plan…

_They sit on the balcony, wrapped up in coats and scarves and beanies against the October night chill. This is where they end up often recently, fed up while all the hooking up and making out going on inside. Every party is the same nowadays._

_“I think I should just get it over with,” Matteo suddenly says to the moon._

_David startles. Matteo is usually not the one to break their companionable silence._

_“Get what over with?”, he asks, carefully._

_“You know. Kiss a guy. Sex.”_

_David nods._

_“Yeah, me too. But I guess that won’t work for me. You could do it, if you wanted.”_

_“Why couldn’t you?”_

_David looks over, and sees Matteo staring at him, his eyes red from the weed._

_“Because, I could hardly just hook up with some random stranger. I’d have to tell them, you know…”_

_Understanding dawns in Matteo’s eyes._

_“You could do it with somebody who already knows, though.”_

_He thinks about that._

_“Like who?”_

_“Uh…” Matteo ponders the question. “Sam?”_

_David stares at Matteo, and they both start giggling. Abdi would be livid._

_“Any other suggestions?”, David inquires, as their laughing fit subsides._

_Matteo shrugs._

_“Me?”_

_David’s breath hitches. He turns his head slowly. Matteo is staring at the sky again._

_David, for a minute, tries to talk himself out of it._

_But he doesn’t want to._

_Matteo is sitting here, offering David everything he ever wanted – well, maybe not exactly, but in a way, he is._

_“Okay.”_

_Matteo’s head whips sideways, and his blue eyes bore into David’s._

_“Okay?”_

_“Sure,” David says, trying to sound noncommittal. “I mean, if you are okay with it.”_

_“Sure,” Matteo says, just a bit hesitantly. “I was the one to suggest it, after all.”_

He really should have known. They hadn’t talked about it anymore that night, and the next day David had a splitting headache and the burning hope Matteo would never bring up their conversation again. But the next week, without discussing it, they both had stayed pretty sober, and when the time came when they would normally find a quiet place to sit together and watch the skies, they instead had gone out, and without speaking, had gone to the flat share, and – did what they had set out to do.

And it had been good. Really, really good. David had worried a lot about getting hit by dysphoria, but Matteo had been so soft and caring and his fingers and his mouth had chased all other thoughts out of David’s overwhelmed mind.

And somehow, it must also have been good for Matteo, because the week after that, they had looked at each other and wordlessly disappeared from the party again, and then the next week too, and the next.

And now here he was. He had told himself earlier he wouldn’t bring Matteo home tonight. He had planned to talk to Matteo, discuss calmly that the idea had been to just do it to get it over with, as Matteo had put it so eloquently on that balcony, and now, well, they got it over with and so there was no point in keep getting it over with. But then Matteo had smiled at him, that weird but cute half-smile of his, and David had felt his legs turn to jelly and he’d told himself one more time couldn’t hurt.

But he had been wrong, because it did hurt. In fact, even when they had been together, cuddling skin to skin, David had felt almost nauseous at the thought of Matteo leaving soon, of this being just about sex for Matteo.

He grabbed the pillow where Matteo’s head had been moments earlier, coming down from his high, a blissful expression on his face. His eyes had been closed, and David had been sad about that, because he loved to drown in the blue – but then again, if they had been open he wouldn’t have been able to stare at Matteo for as long as he had, trying to memorize each and every detail, wishing he was better at portrait drawing so he could immortalize this image. He closes his eyes, trying to remember Matteo’s face, his body. The pillow still smelled faintly like Matteo’s shampoo – something citrusy, earthy. He pressed his face against it, cursing himself for his pathetic weakness for Matteo.

He let himself be enveloped by the scent, falling into a fantasy he’s had dozens of times since they started doing this – Matteo falling asleep in David’s bed, curled up against David, David waking up to a sleeping Matteo, kissing Matteo first thing in the morning, watching how the mist lifts from Matteo’s sky-blue eyes as he slowly wakes up. The pillow was a poor substitute, and with a grunt, he threw it aside. He needed to talk to Matteo. He needed to stop this, now that he still had a chance of coming out of it with his heart relatively intact.

Suddenly he heard knocking at the door – it startled him, but Laura was out, maybe she forgot her keys? He opened the door and almost did a double-take.

Matteo was standing there, looking determined.

“Hi,” Matteo said, his voice firm, but then he faltered.

“Did you forget something?”, David asked uncertainly, when Matteo remained silent.

“Yes,” Matteo replied, not looking at David, but staring at his feet, shuffling nervously. David didn’t understand why Matteo seemed so jumpy – unless he just was really embarrassed about having to come back to David’s bedroom after what they did earlier.

“Can I – can I come in?”, Matteo asked, finally looking up. His eyes were big and a bit wild.

In response, David pulled the door open wider and Matteo stepped through, moving towards David’s bedroom. David followed, trying to calm his heart at the sight of Matteo, his hair tousled even more than normally because of David’s pulling at it earlier.

Inside his bedroom, Matteo stood at the foot of David’s bed, looking down again. David said nothing, unsure of what was going on, afraid of doing the wrong thing.

“Listen,” Matteo suddenly said, “I’m really sorry. I should never have suggested for us to – you know,” he vaguely gestured to the bed, sheets still wrinkled. “I should have been honest with you.”

David felt his heart crack ominously. He had been wrong, when he thought he could let this go with his heart intact. Matteo’s next words would break it completely, shatter it into a million pieces, irreparably.

“It’s okay –”, he started, but Matteo interrupted him.

“It’s not okay. I was selfish and I used you and I should have given you all the facts, but I didn’t, and now… Now I’m afraid I’ve ruined everything between us, but I can’t keep doing this. I’m sorry, David.”

David stood motionless, trying not to fall apart in front of Matteo.

“You didn’t use me… We agreed together on this…”, he retorted, weakly, his voice brittle.

“But I lied,” Matteo whispered, his eyes getting wet. “I lied to you when I suggested it. I made it sound like I just wanted to have sex with somebody, but that was a lie. I’m in love with you, and I didn’t tell you. I should have given you all the facts. I’m sorry if I have messed everything up… I know you don’t feel the same, but I can’t keep doing this with you. It breaks my heart every time we’re together and I have to remind myself it means nothing to you. I just… I hope we can stay friends, still…”

His voice trailed off, and a heavy silence fell.

David replayed Matteo’s words over and over inside his head. Was he dreaming, or did Matteo just tell him he was in love with him?

“You’re wrong,” he finally said, stepping closer to Matteo, tilting Matteo’s chin up with a finger, forcing Matteo to look at him. “You’re so wrong, Matteo. It means _everything_ to me, every time we are together. I’ve been in love with you for so long. I don’t want us to be friends, I want us to be boyfriends, and I want us to keep doing – this,” he mimicked Matteo’s earlier gesture, “because we love each other.”

Matteo stared at him, transfixed, and then, slowly, a smile appeared on his face, and he almost fell into David. David caught him, and together they toppled down onto the bed.

“Stay?”, David asked, not wanting to pressure Matteo, but unwilling to let go of him, afraid he would wake up if he did. But Matteo nodded, burrowing closer into David. David inhaled the same scent he’d smelled on the pillow before, and he hoped it would infuse the sheets, the pillows, the mattress, his whole bedroom – and maybe it would, now, now that Matteo would stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "We’re dating and I didn’t know you were a mobster/biker"
> 
> <3

David checked his phone again. He’d been standing in front of the coffee shop for nearly twenty minutes now, waiting for Matteo to show up. It wasn’t that he minded waiting for Matteo - to be honest, he’d wait a lot longer for Matteo - but he was getting a bit worried. He had tried to call Matteo a few minutes ago, but it had gone straight to voice mail.

He supposed a delay of a few minutes was not too bad, though. Matteo probably just got held up in class for some reason.

A smile appeared involuntarily on David’s face, as he thought about the blonde boy he had met a few weeks ago. He didn’t know how on earth they had been studying at the same university for almost two years, knowing a lot of the same people, even being both somewhat involved in the LGBTQ+ group on campus, without ever running into each other earlier - but they finally had been introduced to each other, and they had hit it off immediately. They’d been going on several dates since, and David already knew he really, really liked Matteo.

Matteo was so laid-back and easy-going, compared to David, who was always pushing himself to be the best at everything he tried. Matteo’s nonchalance was refreshing. David also appreciated the other boy’s dry humour, his wry self-deprecation, his sly remarks. He was charmed by Matteo’s cute clumsiness and his quiet thoughtfulness. He liked how Matteo took his time, thought before he spoke, didn’t need to be loud to get his point across. They laughed a lot, hung out doing nothing, letting their inner child out. It just was all very easy with Matteo. And his big, sky-blue eyes didn’t hurt either.

David couldn’t remember if Matteo had class this afternoon, or if he would be coming from home. He peered both ways, trying to see if he could detect a lanky figure in multiple layers of baggy clothes walk up, when a sleek, shiny motorbike turned in to the street. David was impressed by the machine. The driver seemed to control it masterfully, lying flat with the bike in the turn, and revving it up smoothly. David looked at it wistfully. He’d always kinda wanted to learn how to ride a bike. He thought it would be so cool, to just get on and drive away into the sunset, dark and mysterious. As he was watching, the biker parked across the street. David’s eyes wandered from the chrome and metal to the rider, who turned off the engine and got off in a graceful movement, their leg swinging high. David stared at the slender figure in tight-fitting leather, moving like in a carefully orchestrated choreography. He noticed the strong legs, the curves of the calves, the way the black fabric hugged the biker’s thighs. He kept looking as they bent over to take something out of the saddlebag, and he blushed as he noticed their ass. A tiny flash of guilt crept up on him - it was probably not very appropriate to stare at some hot biker while he was waiting for his date - but it wasn’t strong enough to make him turn away his eyes from the delectable sight in front of him.

It just - it did things to him, okay? He felt his breathing go slightly shallow and a blush taint his cheeks as he watched. The person across the street was effortlessly sexy. It seemed a bunch of girls agreed with David, as they stopped right next to the mysterious biker, and preened, smiling coquettishly, unconsciously adjusting their tops, their hair, their earrings.

The biker then stood up, his back to David, and took off his helmet. He shook his head, and slid a gloved hand through his tousled blonde locks. David smiled. He did have a thing for blonde men, remembering how Matteo often made a similar gesture with his hand to move his hair out of his eyes.

The girls started giggling, a few of them bravely saying something to the man, moving closer. One of them put a small hand on the guy’s upper arm, and suddenly David felt a pang of jealousy. He wished he could ever be that confident, to just walk up to a hot guy and let him know he was interested.

Then the guy turned around, looked straight at David, and smiled.

David felt his heart skip a beat - make that a couple of beats - before it started drumming hard and fast in his throat.

The girls kept throwing simpering looks at the leather-clad man, smiling, winking, circling around him – and David couldn’t do anything but with in horror. He felt bile rise in this throat as he saw the guy’s lips moving, saying something to the girls, which made several of them blush fervently. He wanted to run over there, push each and every one away, and stake his claim.

Before he could move, however, the man made his way towards David.

The girls stared unapologetically, and David couldn’t even blame him. It was a very, very nice view.

“Hi,” the blonde boy softly said, leaning against the wall next to David. “Sorry I’m late.”

David blinked, his mouth open in confusion, staring at the hot body in form-fitting leather, then slowly moving his gaze up to the softest blue eyes he had ever seen.

Matteo shifted, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“Uh,” he started, his voice uncertain, “Is everything okay? You’re not mad, are you? I was visiting my mom and I should have left a bit earlier, I’m sorry…”

“You ride a bike,” David blurted out unceremoniously.

“Uh, yeah,” Matteo replied timidly after a short pause. “It used to be my dad’s. He wanted me to learn how to ride it, like a real man or something.” He huffed humourlessly. “My father isn’t really happy about me being gay, to put it mildly. Anyway, it comes in handy sometimes, but I don’t use it often.”

“Why not?”, David asked, his eyes alternating between the motorcycle across the street and Matteo looking all dangerous. “It seems those girls think it suits you.”

They both looked over, where the girls still hung out, occasionally throwing a come-hither look at Matteo. The latter shrugged, visibly embarrassed.

“Oh, uh, yeah, that happens sometimes. They seem to think it’s hot, or something…” His voice trailed off, and he shrunk into himself slightly, a blush on his pale cheeks, clearly self-conscious.

“No kidding,” David muttered, rolling his eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing.” David collected himself. Matteo looking so ill at ease reminded him he was still the cute, fun boy David had been hanging out with, although the exterior seemed to have morphed into someone else entirely. “Come on, let’s go get coffee.”

Matteo smiled, and they went in together. David glanced over his shoulder at the girls, who seemed to realize they wouldn’t get to talk more to Matteo any time soon, and continued on their way. Good riddance, David thought possessively, as he put his hand on Matteo’s biceps as the girl had done earlier. If Matteo thought it was strange, he didn’t show it.

However, David’s torture wasn’t over yet. The barista, a cute brunette with glasses, started twirling her hair around her finger when Matteo walked up to the counter to order, and her voice was too high-pitched to be natural when she asked him for his name.

“Oh, Matteo,” he tittered. “Are you Italian? How interesting!”

Matteo replied slowly, “Half. Uhm, David, what do you want?”

The brunette glared at David, but took his order nevertheless. David shepherded Matteo to a table, touching him as he did. He was painfully aware that more than one head turned as Matteo passed through the crowded space to the nearest free space. It was time all these girls realized who Matteo was on a date with, David thought grumpily.

They sat down, and Matteo smiled at him again, and David melted. He never realized before how gorgeous Matteo looked like this, a sort of half smile, half smirk around beautiful lips, his blue eyes sparkling like the sea on a summer day, with sunlight reflecting off of it, his hair falling over his face, his cheeks all rosy. He wanted to take a picture of it, to look at late at night when he couldn’t sleep. Suddenly he craved more - he wanted to ask Matteo to make things official, to be his boyfriend, to ask for permission to kiss him senseless.

But then the cashier called out that their drinks were ready, and David hastily got up. He didn’t want anybody else to have a chance at flirting with Matteo. He brought the drink over, and it seemed like another crisis was averted, until he noticed the phone number on Matteo’s cup. Matteo saw it too, at the exact same moment, and they both stared at the innocent numbers in black sharpie.

“Seriously?”, David hissed. He never knew he was the jealous type, but right now, he wanted to claw out the girl’s eyes.

Matteo looked up, and the smile had disappeared, as had the joy in his eyes.

“Uh, sorry about that,” he mumbled, but David was fed up with the whole business.

“What are you apologizing for? It’s not your fault every girl in town is trying to flirt with you, is it?”

Matteo recoiled from the anger radiating from David, and he immediately felt bad. It really wasn’t Matteo’s fault, and David shouldn’t take it out on him, but he felt like the situation was slipping out of his grasp. He could rip the head off anybody who as much as _breathed_ in Matteo’s direction. Matteo was here with _him_ , to hell with everybody else.

“It’s just that, maybe, if you were trying to get phone numbers from random girls, you could do it at some other time. You know, when you’re not on a date with me.”

Matteo’s mouth dropped.

“What? I’m not trying to get any phone numbers! And definitely not from some random girls! I’m gay, remember?”

“Yeah, well,” David murmured, somewhat chastised by Matteo’s outburst. “I’m sure you could get some boys to throw themselves at your feet, too.”

Matteo gaped at him.

“I wouldn’t be interested in any of them, either,” he said, quietly but calmly, and with such determination and conviction that it threw David for a loop.

Matteo was looking at him, unblinking, his coffee forgotten on the table between them.

“Why not?”, David finally whispered, after a long silence in which neither of them moved.

“I’m already here with the guy I want to be with,” came the reply, stead-fast.

David swallowed, as the envy coursing through him died a swift and painless death.

“But, Matteo,” he hedged, “you could get anybody…”

“Stop,” Matteo interrupted, “just stop right there. First of all, this,” he gestured at the black leather, his helmet resting on the chair next to him, “this is not who I am. Yeah, some people think it’s cool, and they want to flirt a bit with a badass biker, but I am the furthest from that anybody could ever be. You liked me when I was stupid and silly and stubborn and nervous and gawky and lazy and looked like a bum in my sweatpants and thrift shop jumpers.”

David tried to protest, but Matteo put a finger against his lips. The intimate contact made the hair on David’s neck rise, and a delicious shiver ran down his spine.

“And secondly…”

He stopped himself, suddenly looking down at the table, removing his finger from David’s mouth. David immediately mourned the loss of it.

“Secondly?”, he asked breathlessly.

“And secondly,” Matteo mumbled to the green Formica tabletop, “secondly, I don’t want anybody else. You are so cool, David, and you don’t even see it. You are so talented and smart and you would walk to the end of the earth to reach your goals. And you’re pretty hot, too,” he finished, a bit bashfully, looking up at David from under his eyelashes.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” David said, trying to make it sound like a joke, but instead it came out as total and utter admiration. Matteo laughed, anyway.

They sat for a long beat, looking at each other, a tentative smile on their faces.

David imagined riding home with Matteo later, his arms tight around Matteo’s waist, his body plastered to Matteo’s back. It made him feel warm and fuzzy with excitement.

“Uhm, does this – does this mean we’re, like, together? I mean, are we boyfriends now?”, David finally asked.

Matteo nodded.

“I would like that, if you would like it too.”

Their smiles grew a bit bigger, as David hummed affirmatively.

“Can I make that fact clear to everybody who might be thinking of slipping you their number too?”, he then inquired.

Matteo looked confused, but nodded hesitatingly nevertheless, and David leaned in.

Their kiss was explosive, and should make it abundantly clear to everybody in the room that Matteo was not going to call any other phone number any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "You’re leaving for something dangerous and I can’t help but kiss you"
> 
> <3

“It’s just a routine operation,” David said calmly. “They do it all the time. Nothing will go wrong.”

Matteo wasn’t convinced, however. Routine or not, things went wrong in hospitals every day. An unexpected reaction to the anesthetics, a surgeon slipping with his scalpel, somebody mixing up some blood bags, Matteo could think of a hundred things that could lead to horrible outcomes. He knew David was excited about finally getting his top surgery, and Matteo really wanted to be happy for his friend, but he couldn’t hide his anxiousness.

He had come along to the hospital to support David, but it seemed to be the other way around: David was steadfast, composed, and ready to get going, while Matteo kept checking the clock nervously and getting more and more jittery as the scheduled time came closer. He desperately wanted to drink some water, but since David needed to be sober, he thought it would not be very nice of him.

He looked over at David, sitting up in the narrow hospital bed, a needle connected to a plastic tube disappearing in the crook of his elbow, a plastic bracelet with his name and birth date on his wrist, and a huge smile on his face. David looked so good, even in the stupid grey gown the nurse had given him earlier.

Matteo had never been good at keeping his eyes off David, ever since they met in the hallway of their high school right before graduation. They’d hung out a few times, and Matteo had fallen for the dark and mysterious boy fast, but he’d been too afraid to try to do anything about his feelings, and so nothing had happened between them. But after summer, David and Jonas had ended up taking a few elective classes together at university, and David had become part of their boy squad without a lot of fuss.

Matteo had tried to get over his crush at that point, and had dated a guy from a few years ahead for a couple of weeks, but he couldn’t ever really get into it. It always seemed like something perfunctory, going through the motions for the sake of it. Then, one night, they all had gone to a bar, and he’d been kissing Matthias, but when he had opened his eyes, he’d looked straight at David, staring at them, with a deep frown, and an unreadable expression on his handsome face. Matteo had immediately ended the kiss, blushing fervently, uncertain about what had just happened. He’d broken up with Matthias a few days later, and that had been all there had been to it, but alone in his room, Matteo had tried to decipher David’s look a million times, never getting closer to any sort of conclusion, and always too scared to talk to David about what had been going on that night.

He tore his gaze away from David. He tried to focus on David’s voice, chattering happily about not ever having to wear a binder again, about being able to swim shirtless like the other guys. He smiled mechanically at David, nodding along when David was telling him about all the things they would do when he would have revalidated from the operation. He suddenly found himself praying silently, the old, half-forgotten words from his childhood running through his head, and his own frantic pleas tacked onto the formulaic prayers – _please, God, keep David safe. I don’t know what I would do if I never saw him again. I don’t think I could survive._

The nurse came in, checking David’s bracelet one last time, connecting a new bag of fluids to the tube feeding into David’s veins.

“Somebody will come to take you to the OR in two minutes, David,” she said matter-of-factly, as if it meant nothing.

Matteo supposed it did mean nothing to her, she did this dozens of times a day, every day for years. It was grounding somehow, to have her be so nonchalant about something that filled David with so much joy and anticipation and Matteo with so much nervousness and dread.

Two minutes. One and a half now.

He stared at David again, not even trying to hide it this time, taking in every detail of David’s face – the dark eyes, the long, long eyelashes framing them, fluttering against rosy cheeks, the dark curls on his forehead, his red lips, the slight stubble on his upper lip, the absence of the glittery nose ring.

And suddenly it all became too much.

One minute. Sixty seconds.

And Matteo stopped thinking, and he stood up from the uncomfortable, plastic-covered chair next to David’s bed, and with as much determination as he could muster, he leaned over David and pressed his lips to David’s.

It was short and clumsy, but Matteo felt his heart race and he blushed when he let go of David’s mouth.

David was looking up at him with a dazed expression on his face, his mouth slightly open in surprise.

“Matteo?”, he said, confused.

“Sorry,” Matteo muttered, turning away, trying to leave the room in embarrassment, but David grabbed his hand.

“Don’t apologize,” he commanded, his voice strong, pulling Matteo closer. “Do it again.”

Matteo startled at the demand, not understanding.

“Look,” David’s voice came again, hurriedly. “Your timing sucks, and we will talk about this more later, but right now, we have only seconds, and if something goes wrong in that OR, then I want to know that at least I got to kiss you properly. I’ve been wanting to do that since I met you.”

He tugged at Matteo’s hand, and Matteo went willingly, deciding to just go with it. He’d have ample time to unpack David’s words later, while waiting for David to come back from the procedure.

He kissed David again, and when David opened his mouth, he deepened the kiss almost unthinkingly.

At that moment, footsteps sounded through the hallway.

“David Schreibner?”, a male voice said drily. “Time for your operation.”

With considerable effort, Matteo let go of David’s mouth. David looked as stunned as Matteo felt.

“Hold that thought, Florenzi,” David whispered, as the nurse came closer. “We’ll continue this when I’m back.”

And Matteo nodded silently, a dopey look in his eyes and a smile on his face. They would continue this when David got back. And as he settled down into the awkward chair again, counting the seconds, he couldn’t help but modify his prayers a little bit – _please, God, keep my boyfriend safe, I need to kiss him again, every day for the rest of my life_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "A soft smile before leaning in for a kiss"
> 
> <3

David carried the last box upstairs, to his new flat – his and Matteo’s. He’d had butterflies in his stomach all week, knowing they were really going to live together. But now, now that it was actually happening, now their friends had left and it was just Matteo and him in their tiny apartment, the butterflies had morphed into a horde of angrily buzzing wasps, and David was – frightened.

It was not that he regretted moving in with Matteo, per se – it was just that he suddenly worried about being too dependent on Matteo. A few months ago, he had been convinced he would spend his life detached from everything and everybody, not getting involved, not letting anybody come close enough to see the real David. And then Matteo had come into his life, and David couldn’t help but let him in.

As he reached his new front door, Matteo was standing there, leaning against the doorpost, smiling widely. He took the heavy box from David, and put it down haphazardly against the wall.

“Our new home,” Matteo said happily, pulling David against him and snaking his arms around David’s waist, “I’m so happy to do this with you. I love you.”

David loved this Matteo, so unrestrainedly joyful, his eyes shining with excitement, and he wanted to keep Matteo exactly this happy every day – but the wasps’ buzzing kept getting louder, and he felt nauseous, and suddenly all he could do was to sink on his knees, next to the box Matteo just put down, and start sobbing violently.

It took less than a second for Matteo to kneel next to him, tugging David closer, one hand on his back, the other gliding through David’s hair in long, calming strokes.

“Hey,” he murmured, his voice tinged with concern, “what’s up? Do you regret doing this so fast? Do you wanna take it slow, maybe go sleep over at Laura’s tonight? We don’t have to go through with this if it’s not what you want.”

“No!”, David almost yelled, pulling back so he could look Matteo in the eyes. “No, that’s not – I mean, I do want to live with you. It’s just… It’s just that I love you so much it scares me.”

A sigh of relief escaped Matteo at David’s words, but he knitted his brows together when David finished his sentence.

“It scares you? Why?”

David tried to get his thoughts together, so he could explain to Matteo. Matteo didn’t push him, just held him, and waited patiently for David to answer. The wasps seemed to subdue a little bit, but they didn’t disappear, and David tried to concentrate on the blue of Matteo’s eyes instead.

“It scares me to need you so much. I couldn’t go on if you ever left, Matteo, and that’s frightening. I had to learn to look out for myself, not to depend on people, and then you came and you challenged all that. I thought being alone wasn’t bad, but now the idea is paralyzing. I can’t go on without you anymore, and – and that’s scary. It’s scary to realize you could destroy me if you’d choose to. You have so much power over me, you could decide to take away your love at any point, and I’d have no other option than to accept it, but – but it’d kill me, it really would…”

“Shhhh,” Matteo interrupted. He pulled David close against him again, uncaring about the tears and the snot on David’s face.

They sat like that for a few minutes, David’s sobs ebbing away slowly, and Matteo just holding him.

Then Matteo pulled back a bit, cradling David’s face between his hands, and smiling at him.

“David,” he started, “David, don’t you know I feel the same about you? If I was afraid of being alone before, it’s so much worse now that I know what it’s like to belong to somebody. You could destroy me too, but I try not to think about that. I try to think about the fact that you could also build me up. Because you do, every single day, you give me strength and courage to reach out for my dreams.”

David closed his eyes. He wanted to believe Matteo so badly, but the wasps didn’t agree.

“But then… Why are you not afraid, then?”, he whispered, his voice small and halting.

“I am, sometimes,” Matteo replied with brutal honesty. “But I refuse to give in to it, just like that, without a fight. Maybe one day you’ll realize you could do so much better than me, and I won’t be able to hold on to you. There will be time enough to crumble if and when that happens. There’s no point in letting that ruin things right now.”

David sniffed and wiped over his eyes. He stared at Matteo, trying to lose himself in his boyfriend’s beautiful eyes, but he didn’t reply.

“I just have to hope you will stay,” Matteo breathed, so softly David had to strain to hear. The vulnerability in Matteo’s voice tugged at his heartstrings. “Because yes, it’d annihilate me if you left. But also, because I am so much better with you. You lift me up and I want to do the same for you. And I don’t intend to ever let that slip away from me, David, I’m holding on to you with everything I have, for as long as I possibly can.”

He smiled at David, and it was as if somebody turned on the sun. And in an instant, the wasps vanished, and David wasn’t crippled by fear anymore. Instead, he felt invincible. Matteo was smiling brighter than all the lights in Berlin combined, and it was because of _David_. _David_ made Matteo happy enough to make him smile like that. Nobody else could have done that, nobody else made Matteo feel like that, nobody else loved Matteo the way David did – and Matteo didn’t love anybody else like he loved David. It was incredibly empowering, to know he made Matteo feel delighted and loved and ready to take on whatever life would throw at them. Suddenly, the horde of wasps seemed stupid and silly, insignificant and weak, nothing like the monster David’s mind had made it out to be. And he felt a smile appear on his own face, mirroring Matteo’s. Matteo’s smile was so soft, so tender, and David leaned into him to kiss him.

Matteo complied immediately, contentedly, and when they resurfaced for air, David had completely forgotten about his fears. Yes, Matteo could leave. But he could also stay, and as long as they were together, nothing was impossible.

“Feeling better?”, Matteo asked gingerly, softly, looking at David with so much gentle care in his eyes that David almost toppled over from the force of it.

“Feeling better,” he confirmed, a bit breathless. “Thank you for taking care of me and slaying my monsters for me.”

He laughed at his strange metaphor, but Matteo nodded understandingly.

“You’d do the same for me,” he mumbled, and David realized it was true. He’d kill all of Matteo’s dragons for him, take over all of his burdens, and they wouldn’t even weigh him down, because Matteo’s happiness made everything lighter.

Suddenly, everything was bright and the future laid in front of them like a glittering path full of promises.

He stood up, pulling Matteo along.

“No to taking things slow. No to me sleeping over at Laura’s. I want to celebrate our first night living together. Come on,” he said, impatiently, tugging Matteo to their bedroom. He really liked that word, their. They’re together in this. Their flat, their bed, their life. Their fears – and their power to overcome each one of them, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, pretty please?
> 
> <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "I called you at 2am because I need you"
> 
> <3

Trying to sleep alone is the absolute worst. It is bad enough to not be able to see his boyfriend during the day, but at least during the day, he can distract himself with other things. Right now, in the middle of the night, all David can think about is Matteo.

The past few weeks have been nothing but horrible. First David had spent a few days at his parents’ house, and when he got back, Matteo had been rushing to finish a big project for school. When that finally had been handed in, his mother had suffered a bit of a relapse and Matteo had gone to stay with her. He had gotten back to the flat share last Thursday, and David had been more than ready to finally spend some quality time together, but then Hans had decided a party was in order. As usual, it had lasted until early morning, and there hadn’t even been time for a shower together before they had to rush off to class. On Friday they had been invited to Amira and Mohammed, and by the time they had left there, the cold that had been threatening to break through for a few days had made David cough and sniffle, and he had sent Matteo home alone. He’d stayed mostly in bed all weekend, and then when he had finally felt better, it had been Monday again and the normal hustle that came with it had overtaken them once more.

And now they were back to Thursday, and David had snapped at everybody – at breakfast, he’d yelled at Laura for chewing too loud, and before class, he had told a few unsuspecting classmates off because they were giggling about one of David’s favourite movies. During his lunch break, he had scoffed at Carlos and Kiki sitting too close together, which had greatly confused Carlos because he and Matteo would have been even closer – but Matteo had been spending his lunch breaks in tutoring recently. He’d even thrown some sarcastic remark at Hanna when she had walked to the library with him, and when he had stopped by the flat share in the hope of catching Matteo before David had his therapy appointment, he had snarled at Mia and Vicky.

Matteo had sent David a text during the latter’s appointment, asking if he was okay, why he was so grumpy and curt with everybody recently, and if Matteo had done anything wrong.

And David had been ashamed at his behaviour, when he had read the texts after he left his therapists’ office, but by that time it had been over an hour since Matteo had sent them, and David hadn’t known how to explain that he was just frustrated.

His finger had hovered over his phone to call Matteo, but it had been late, and Matteo had seemed so tired when they had briefly talked over the phone that morning, in between classes. So he had just gone home with lead in his shoes.

And as he lays in his bed, tossing and turning, constantly frustrated by the lack of a warm snoring body, he remembers that tomorrow isn’t looking good either. Matteo has class until late and on top of that, he is supposed to get together with some classmates for a group assignment in the evening. It doesn’t look like they will have much time together, and Saturday they already agreed to go help out Jonas with a surprise he was preparing for Hanna’s birthday.

David sighs. He wonders why the whole world is conspiring against him. Is it that bad to want an hour alone, undisturbed, with his boyfriend? Hell, he’d settle for thirty minutes at this point.

He didn’t even know it was possible to miss somebody this much. And it feels like he is overreacting, too – it isn’t like he hasn’t seen Matteo at all, they’d hung out plenty. But it’s just – they haven’t been alone. And while Carlos is right, they are always touching somehow when they are together, it isn’t enough. David needs to be closer to Matteo, to feel the warmth of Matteo’s skin, to breathe the same air, to rest his head on Matteo’s chest and hear his steady heartbeat in his ear. And he also needs Matteo inside him, and Matteo’s tongue all over, and to taste Matteo, and to watch how Matteo closes his eyes and tenses his whole body when he comes. It isn’t wrong to want to have sex with your boyfriend, is it?

Long story short, David is horny, and frustrated, and he doesn’t care about being needy. It is unbearable. He grumbles out loud, trying to get comfortable, hugging Matteo’s pillow as some sort of ersatz Matteo.

Nothing helps. The blankets are too heavy, but without them, he is cold, and the bed is too big without Matteo. He grabs his phone, the bright screen momentarily blinding him, thinking he can watch something on YouTube until he falls asleep. But automatically, he goes to Instagram, checking out Matteo’s pictures, or his own with Matteo in them. And then he opens up their chat history, reading the silly messages of love they exchange all the time. His thumb almost caresses the screen, as if it is Matteo’s face. And then suddenly he notices that Matteo has been active recently.

Before he completely realizes what he is doing, he has pressed call. Matteo answers almost immediately.

“David? What are you doing awake? It’s almost 2 a.m.”

Just hearing Matteo’s voice makes all the stress and grumpiness disappear, and David laughs.

“I could ask the same,” he retorts, his voice teasing.

He can almost hear Matteo smile, and he curls up between the sheets, thinking about how Matteo is probably doing the same right now.

“Is everything okay?”, Matteo asks softly, after a few moments of companionable silence, and David’s cheeks flame up in shame again.

“Yeah…”

Matteo presses on.

“You can tell me, if I did something wrong… I mean, you seemed so grumpy earlier, and Mia said you came by and she thought you were angry… But I can’t figure out what I did, so just tell me, please…”

“Oh, Teo…” David sits straight up against the wall. “You did absolutely nothing wrong!”

“Are you sure? But you are upset about something, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but it’s just because I’m so frustrated that we haven’t had any time together between the two of us. I miss you, that’s all.”

Matteo is silent, and David wonders if anything is wrong.

“Matteo?”

“Yeah,” the reply comes quickly, “I’m still here. I just… You really are so angry and snappy because you miss me? That’s all?”

God, David didn’t think it was possible to fall even more in love with Matteo, but he just did. He might just have melted at the softness in his boyfriends’ voice. But the fact that Matteo doesn’t get how much David needs him must be rectified, immediately.

“That’s all? It’s just about everything! You are everything. So when I can’t have you, of course I’m gonna get snappy. I need my Matteo fix. I needed my Matteo fix two weeks ago, in fact. A day without alone time with you is… not a good day, no matter what else is going on.”

Matteo laughs softly.

“Really? I didn’t know. I thought I was the clingy one…”

“Hey!”, David retorts. “I’m not clingy. I just know a good thing when I see it, and I don’t plan on letting go. You’re stuck with me.”

“Just the way I want it.”

They both laugh, and then the line goes silent for a few minutes, only the sound of their breaths coming through.

“I miss you too, you know…”, Matteo then speaks, softly, a bit hesitatingly. “If you want –”

He cuts himself off, and David knows Matteo doesn’t want to assume, doesn’t want to pressure, doesn’t want to offend – so he just takes the proverbial bull at the horns.

“Can I come over?”

He hears the sharp intake of breath at the other end of the line, and then Matteo’s beautiful laugh.

“Hurry up.”

David is already out of his bed, pulling on some pants and a hoodie over his sleeping shirt, not bothering to find socks.

“Be there in ten.”

“Good,” Matteo says. David can hear the excitement in his voice. “Use your key.”

David smirks.

“Why?”, he asks, as he tiptoes through the flat, opening the front door, rushing down the stairs.

“Can’t open the door naked…”

David unlocks his bike in record speed and starts pedaling as fast as he can.

“Be there in five,” he pants, hearing Matteo’s delighted laugh right before he ends the call. The image of a naked Matteo waiting for him is incentive enough.

He makes it in four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget the comment box! :)
> 
> <3


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: “I think I’m in love with you.”
> 
> <3

It’s been like this forever. They go out together, and after a few beers, David disappears amongst the masses on the dance floor, while Matteo hides away in the darkest corner of the room, trying to watch David without being creepy. It lasts until somebody inevitably approaches David, and David smiles widely at whoever it is, his eyes sparkly. They then dance together for a while – a few minutes, an hour – it doesn’t matter, because Matteo knows the end game. Week after week David leaves the dance floor with somebody pretty and confident and experienced – exactly like Matteo isn’t – and comes back with his hair mussed, his clothes disarranged, his eyes flushed and his lips swollen and red. And then they go home, and David will ask Matteo if he had a good time, and Matteo will say yes, and David will ask him if he will dance with David next week, and Matteo will shrug, and ask David if he had fun, and David will wink. And when they reach the flat share – David always walks Matteo home, never the other way around – they will bump fists and with a cheery wave and a “Good night” David will be off, leaving Matteo to suffer in silence. Matteo will lay awake for hours thinking about what David did this time in the bathroom, or against the wall, or in the broom closet, or wherever he took this week’s hook up.

Matteo is well used to the pattern by now, and he has also learned to ignore Jonas, who will at some point bring him a beer, and lean against the wall next to him, and sigh deeply.

“I know I say this every fucking time, bro, but just tell him already. Or stay home next time. You don’t enjoy parties, and even you are not masochistic enough to torture yourself like this every fucking week.”

Matteo accepts the beer with a small nod, but otherwise ignores Jonas. He delivers some variation to this general spiel every week, anyway. He should know by now Matteo won’t listen.

But apparently, Jonas has had enough of their ritual, because suddenly Abdi and Carlos show up, and the three of them force Matteo to move. They push and pull, and he is no match against the three of them, so he lets them maneuver him to the dancefloor, right next to David. He can absolutely refuse to play along, though, so when they urge him in low voices to dance, he just stands there, not moving, rooted to the ground.

But David has other ideas, it seems.

“Matteo!”, he exclaims giddily. “Finally you have come to dance with me!”

And he grabs Matteo by the waist and pulls him against his body, undulating in cadence with the heavy beat that pulsates through the club.

Matteo knows he needs to get away from this, before his body gets ideas about being this close to David, but David is strong, and he doesn’t let go. All Matteo can do is will himself to remain calm, to not react to the way David is pushing his hips against Matteo’s, or the way he tangles his hand in Matteo’s hair.

He desperately tries to signal Jonas to save him before he embarrasses himself, but the traitor just shrugs, and ignores Matteo’s pleading eyes.

So he keeps reciting irregular Spanish verbs in his head, to keep his attention away from the way David has turned Matteo around in his arms, and is now full-on grinding against Matteo’s ass, his hands low on Matteo’s hipbones. If Jonas thought watching David from the corner was torture, he doesn’t know how to describe this. This is so much worse. The only remotely positive part about this is that nobody else comes up to David, and David doesn’t vanish with a stranger.

Matteo loses track of time, trying not to concentrate on David’s body, his fingers on Matteo’s skin, his breath in his ear as he whispers something Matteo doesn’t quite understand.

“What?”, he stupidly says, turning his head slightly, and then regretting it when he realizes how close David’s face is, how dark his eyes.

David stares for a long heartbeat at Matteo, and then tugs at his hand. His lips form some words, and Matteo thinks David is asking him to come along, so he does. He will do whatever David wants. There’s nothing new there.

And then, before Matteo’s brain has had time to catch up, David has pushed him against the wall, and has pressed his full length against Matteo, and is kissing him with abandon.

Matteo’s rational thoughts short-circuit, and he kisses back, immediately hot and bothered, opening his mouth for David, and spreading his legs when David moves one knee in between them, and pushes against Matteo firmly. Matteo cannot keep himself from reacting any longer, and he feels himself harden. He knows David must be able to feel it, but David doesn’t recoil in disgust, but instead presses even closer, as if he wants to crawl inside Matteo.

Matteo has no idea how long they are kissing, but when David pulls back and groans Matteo’s name, suddenly his brain starts functioning again.

David looks exactly like all those times he came back from some make-out session – and Matteo’s heart breaks. With a surge of strength he didn’t know he possessed, he pushes David away, and when David, surprised by Matteo’s actions, stumbles backwards, Matteo bolts.

He runs as quickly as he can, knowing David is faster, but hoping David will just go back to the dancefloor.

But his hope is proven idle, when he hears David call out his name, and his footsteps approaching.

Panting, breathless, both from the sprint and from the kiss, Matteo stops and waits for David to catch up.

“What was that about?”, David demands, not out of breath at all. “Why did you take off like that?”

Matteo doesn’t know how to feel. He is embarrassed about his reaction to David, and suddenly he feels nothing but anger – at David, for kissing him like that, at Jonas, for putting Matteo in this situation, and mostly at himself, for being in love with his friend, who he knows is out of reach.

So in his anguish, he lashes out.

“Why wouldn’t I? You got your heavy petting for the week. We always leave after you got some, so why would this week be any different?”

And David’s eyes narrow at Matteo’s cynical words, and his face hardens. Slowly, but deliberately, he steps closer towards Matteo, and Matteo helplessly retreats, until he feels a wall in his back, and David closes him in with two arms next to his shoulders.

“Who says I was done with this week’s _heavy petting_?”, he sneers, emphasizing the words, and he presses his lips to Matteo’s again, hard and bruising. And Matteo, at first, reacts – opens his mouth, pushes his hips towards David, arches his back to rest his head against the wall – but then it all becomes too much and with a sob, he pushes against David’s chest.

“Stop,” he cries, “stop, stop, David, stop, please…”

David, who at first moved his lips towards Matteo’s neck to suck at the tender skin there, suddenly stops, and his whole demeanor changes. His face turns worried, his hands cradle Matteo’s face with care, and his voice is soft when he speaks.

“Sorry… sorry, Matteo… I shouldn’t have… But I just wanted you so badly…”

Matteo is crying now, tears and snot running over his face, and David pulls him into a hug, and at first, Matteo wants to step back, but then he gives in to the familiar comfort, and leans his head on David’s shoulder. They stay like that for what feels like an eternity, and when the sobs stop racking through Matteo’s body, David speaks again.

“I am so, so sorry, Matteo… Please, forgive me… I won’t ever try anything like that again. I know it’s no excuse, but I just wanted to kiss you so much, and I thought you were into it too…”

“I was,” Matteo whispers, vulnerable, but deciding he needs to be honest. He might lose his friend, but after what happened just now, he doesn’t know if they can ever be the same unless he finally confesses.

“I was, David, but I – I don’t wanna be one of your dirty hookups…”

David blusters at Matteo’s words, ready to defend himself.

“There is nothing wrong with hooking up with people, Matteo!”, he retorts, sounding upset. “You’re – it’s like you’re implying I’m acting like some sort of monster. It’s not dirty. I don’t take advantage of them, or whatever you might think!”

Matteo shakes his head violently.

“No… No, that’s not it. It’s just that – Well, I don’t know about those others, but I – I don’t want that – I don’t want just some grinding against a wall…”

David immediately sounds remorseful again.

“Yeah, I realize that now. I should have asked permission first, Matteo, I’m sorry. I just… I thought…”

He seems at a loss for words, and Matteo holds on to this strange mix of vulnerability and courage coursing through him.

“I know. And you were right… I mean, I was into it, I guess… I just – I – It would kill me to do this with you now and then watch you do it with somebody else again next week. I hate watching you with other people.”

David remains very still, and Matteo fears he has ruined their friendship.

“Why – why?”, he finally asks, on a trembling breath.

“Because I – I think I am in love with you,” Matteo says, equally unsteady, his voice so low he is not sure David can hear him.

Neither of them moves, or speaks, and it seems like time stopped, until a car honks somewhere in the distance, and they both are shaken out of their turmoil thoughts.

“Do you know why I hook up with somebody else every time we go out?”, David suddenly says, his voice almost loud in the silent night.

Matteo shakes his head, unsure where this is going, wondering if David hasn’t heard his confession, or is just ignoring it.

“Because I didn’t think the person I really want to kiss wanted me.”

Matteo swallows, and tries to say something, but no sound comes out.

“But now… Now I think maybe he does.”

Matteo stares at David, and David stares back.

“Matteo… If I promise it’s not just a hookup, if I promise I will kiss you again next time, and the next, and every day in between… If I promise I will never even look at anybody else… Will you please let me kiss you again?”

Matteo cannot do anything but nod dumbly. But when David smiles, and steps closer, and backs Matteo against the wall for the third time, he feels his heart speed up and he closes his eyes. Maybe – just maybe, this is how it’ll be forever, from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, about those comments? 
> 
> <3


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Argument leading to kissing/sex"
> 
> <3

It should have been a great evening. The movie David had worked on as director’s assistant was nominated for some prestigious award, and he had been so proud and happy to go to a red-carpet event with Matteo. It was even better because he had ignored Matteo so often lately, with the busy filming schedule. He’d promised Matteo a nice date night, to make up for all the lonely evenings.

And it had been really fun, at first. Matteo had looked dashing in his blue suit, and they had stood a bit aside, enjoying the food, while some speeches were made.

But then the director had come over. He’d offered to introduce David to some other well-known people in the business, and David had jumped at the chance. He’d felt bad for leaving Matteo alone, but Matteo had told him he needed to strike the iron while it was hot.

The networking had lasted way longer than David could have predicted, though, and after a couple of hours he had realized with a jolt Matteo must be bored out of his mind by now.

So he made his excuses, and went in search of his boyfriend. He didn’t find him near the food, though, and he got a bit worried, walking through the venue filled with people, until he heard a bright laugh he knew so well.

When he turned around, he saw Matteo at the bar, sitting close to an actor from one of the other competing films. They were clearly hitting off, guffawing loudly, each with a beer in their hand. Judging by the bottles in front of them, it wasn’t their first either.

David was about to go over, when the presenter signaled to the crowd that the jury had reached a decision and the winner would be announced. David had no choice but to find the rest of the cast and crew he worked with the past few months, in anticipation of the ceremony. Even though they had all known the other selected movies were extremely well-made too, they were all rooting to win, and it was a huge disappointment when another title was called. David felt even worse when he saw Matteo’s drinking buddy prominently on the stage, holding the award high, grinning from ear to ear. Some girl from their crew muttered something about “Karl Müller being so pretty” and David scoffed. Handsome faces didn’t trump good directing, intriguing stories and layered characters. He had to admit he hadn’t yet seen the winning movie, and spitefully he decided he wasn’t even going to.

They had to go take care of some marketing shit after the ceremony – posing with the winning team, congratulating them as if the hadn’t hoped to win themselves, and such things. By the time it was over, he just wanted to find Matteo and be comforted by him for not winning.

But as he went to the bar, Karl Müller was right in front of him. He walked straight up to Matteo, and Matteo beamed at him.

“Congratulations, man! I’ll have to watch your movie, I suppose!”

David scoffed. Matteo’s idea of a good movie was anything from the Marvel franchise. This movie was definitely another category. It stung, though, to hear Matteo just say that. David usually had to beg him to watch anything indie or artsy with him.

Then David’s blood really started boiling. Karl fucking Müller shrugged modestly, saying something David didn’t understand, and Matteo laughed, and hugged the guy.

“I’m sure you were great!”

That did it. Matteo was supposed to hug David, and David alone – not some washed-up movie star who probably couldn’t even act for shit but happened to have a great face and a body the girls like to ogle. He marched over to the bar, when the same crew girl intercepted him.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, “do you have any idea who is sitting with Karl Müller? Do you think he has a new boyfriend?”

“Huh?”, David said, not caring how stupid he sounded. “Is that dude gay?”

“Karl Müller?”, the girl tittered. Why had he never noticed how annoying she was? “Oh, yeah. Shame, really. The hot ones always are.”

She stared longingly at the guy.

“His boyfriend isn’t bad-looking either,” she continued dreamily. Karl fucking Müller was smiling broadly at Matteo, and he put his hand on Matteo’s arm fondly – a bit too familiar for David’s liking, but the girl next to him sighed happily. “They look so cute together. You can really tell they’re in love.”

And now David had had enough. Some hot guy was hitting on his boyfriend right while he was watching. He stalked over, and pulled Matteo away from the bar without a word, ignoring Matteo’s yelp of pain, and Müller’s surprised voice. He was fuming, and as soon as they reached a dark hallway, he turned around.

“What the fuck, Matteo? Why are you letting that… that asshole pawing you all over?”

“What?” Matteo sounded baffled, and not a tiny bit angry, either. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, dragging me away like that?” He rubbed his wrist, and David felt remorse when he saw bruises forming in the shape of his fingers. “I was talking to somebody.”

All the remorse flew straight out of the window.

“Yeah, I noticed,” he spat. “Maybe you shouldn’t flirt with other men when your boyfriend is around, though.”

“What?”, Matteo repeated, incredulously. “Flirting? Who was flirting?”

“You, with that bastard!”, David snarled. “He had his hands all over you, Matteo!”

“He did not!”, Matteo retorted. “We were just talking, David.”

“I can’t believe you’re that naïve,” David bit. “Even other people asked if you were his boyfriend, commented on how clearly the two of you were in love.”

He felt the tears welling up, and his throat constricted. He’d always known Matteo could do so much better. Somebody with less baggage, who didn’t have to try as hard to be a man. Somebody handsome and successful, like Matteo deserved. Maybe Matteo had finally realized it too, and he was scouting the field.

It sickened David to his core, and he didn’t know how to react, except with anger.

“I would have thought you’d do me the courtesy of actually breaking up with me before you moved on, though. Or did you need me to get in, so you could snag some high-profile actor? Was that your plan all along?”

David knew Matteo had the tendency to retreat when faced with anger, and he paused long enough to take another breath, when Matteo totally surprised him by putting a hand over his mouth and pushing his back against the wall.

“You are an idiot, Schreibner,” he said, slowly, softly, calmly. “You are a complete and utter fool if you think I’ll ever let you get away.”

He pressed his lips on David’s, demanding entrance. David was bewildered by this confident, almost aggressive Matteo, and he complied unthinkingly. Matteo kissed him deeply, taking his time.

“Karl Müller told me, before you so rudely interrupted us, that he has the biggest crush on a straight co-star of his. And I told him that I have been dating the man of my dreams for seven years now, but that I am afraid he will one day realize he can have anybody he wants, and leave me. But now…”

He pressed his hips roughly into David’s, connecting their lower bodies, pushing a leg in between David’s.

“Now I know how insanely jealous he gets when he sees me talking to another guy, I think he might not be all that inclined to leave me after all.”

“He’s not,” David whispered.

“Mmmm,” Matteo replied, his hands pulling David’s shirt out of his waistband. “Good. Because I want him. Right here, right now.”

David was thrilled by this new side to Matteo. If this was the result of making a fool out of himself in a jealous hissy fit, he was going to do that every other week from now on. And when Matteo pulled him along to an even darker corner, one hand on his zipper already, he mentally upped it to once every three days.

And when they made it back to the main hall, looking pretty disheveled but glowing, Matteo introduced David to Karl Müller, and David was only slightly guilty to admit he enjoyed the jealous flash in Müller’s eyes as he took in their appearance. David looked at the award sitting next to Müller on the bar, and he couldn’t care less. He was taking home the only prize worth winning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments right here please.
> 
> <3


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: You’re my ex but I think I still have feelings for you
> 
> CW: Mentions of coming out, body dysphoria, transgender issues. Nothing too heavy. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I am not trans - but from my experience with trans friends, everybody handles dysphoria differently. Feel free to contact me if you take umbrage with anything I wrote on this topic, but please keep it respectful. 
> 
> <3

“I don’t know why you don’t just admit you’re still totally besotted with him, little brother,” Laura says conspiratorially.

David startles and tears his gaze away from Matteo, who is horsing around with the ok.cool squad across the room. Matteo seems happy, and David has been drinking in his laugh, the sparks in his beautiful blue eyes. It’s been a while since he experienced them, and he needs them to survive. He shrugs at Laura, taking a sip of his mate, and risks another glance at Matteo.

Shit. Matteo is looking him straight in the eye, and all the joy has left his features. They stare at each other for a heartbeat, unblinking, until Jonas shoves Matteo roughly in the shoulder, and Matteo plasters a smile on his face as he addresses Jonas.

David knows there’s only one person to blame for Matteo’s sadness. For a few blissful weeks, Matteo’s laughter had been abundant, carefree. David had been accepted into the group of boys without any issue – Matteo had introduced him as his boyfriend, and Jonas had made space on the bench for David, and that had been it. They’d been to the park a few times, they’d played video games, they’d gone to a party – and everything had been perfect.

And then David had broken up with Matteo, without explanation. He’d been too much of a coward to even do it in person. He’d sent Matteo a text message, saying it all went too fast, that he’d made a mistake, that he didn’t want anything from Matteo. And when Matteo had come over to his and Laura’s flat, trying to talk to David, he had made Laura send Matteo away.

“What good would that do me?”, he bitterly replies to Laura’s question. Because of course it is true. He still is completely head over heels for Matteo. Nothing has changed. Unfortunately, nothing else has changed either. David is still trans, and if he wants to be with Matteo, he’d have to come out.

Laura shakes her head incredulously.

“Sometimes I wonder if you were switched at birth, really. No brother of mine can be this dense.”

“What?”, David murmurs morosely. He was switched at birth, yeah. He should have gotten a male body from the start.

Laura smacks him in the arm, rather too hard if you ask David, and he yelps and rubs over the sore spot.

“You’re an idiot!”, Laura yells. “You love him, he loves you, what’s the fucking problem? Just tell him already. I have a feeling he won’t give a shit about it, and if he does, he’s not worth your time and your moping. But he’ll just be glad to have you back, believe me.”

David wishes he could have Laura’s confidence in his ex-boyfriend.

“He’s _gay_ , Laura.”

“Oh my god,” Laura bursts out, smacking him again. “You’re even more stupid than I thought. Yeah, idiot, he’s gay. And you are a guy. I feel to see the problem.”

“You don’t understand. We were all a bit drunk one day, and Carlos was saying something about whatever he and Kiki do in their bedroom, and Matteo said he doesn’t see how anybody could be turned on by female body parts. Well, newsflash, Laura, but I have female body parts too!”

“Oh, David…” Laura stops the smacking, and instead pulls him in for a hug. “Okay, maybe that was a bit insensitive of him, but how was he supposed to know it would affect you? He may change his opinion when it’s about you. It’s like how some people say redheads are not their type until they fall for one anyway. That time I walked in on the both of you on the couch, I wouldn’t have said he wasn’t turned on by you, little brother…”

She lowers her voice and wiggles her eyebrows at the end of her sentence, and David blushes. He knows exactly what time Laura is referring to, and she is right, too. He and Matteo had been making out on the couch, and they had definitely both been into it. David had felt Matteo getting hard against his leg, his hips bucking almost involuntarily, and he had gotten wet in return. In hindsight, it had probably been a good thing that Laura had walked in on them, as awkward as it had been – otherwise Matteo might have been confronted with female body parts without any warning whatsoever.

He sighs.

He turns his eyes towards Matteo again. He can’t help it. Matteo is a flame and he is just the poor moth flying towards impending doom.

“Okay,” he says, with a finality he doesn’t feel. “Okay. I’ll tell him.”

“Good,” Laura says. ‘I’ll call him over, shall I?”

“Wait, what? No!”

He stops her just before she can lift her arm. She raises her eyebrows.

“Not now! I need to think about it! And not here, jesus…”

“Yes here, David, yes now. Just do it. Get it over with. There’s no point in beating yourself up over it any longer.”

And so David walks over to the boys, unsure of what to say, if Matteo will even want to hear him out.

Abdi notices him first, and he gestures to Jonas. The two of them come to stand in front of Matteo, shielding him from David’s reach.

“Hello, Schreibner,” Abdi says. It doesn’t even sound angry, in clear opposition to the look on Jonas’ face.

This isn’t gonna go easy. David almost gives up, but Laura is gesturing for him to go for it from the bar.

“Hello, Abdi, Jonas,” he therefore mumbles.

“How are you doing?”, Abdi asks, again very calmly, but not moving an inch, still keeping Matteo out of sight.

David has no interest in games.

“I would like to talk to Matteo,” he replies, trying to sound just as calm as Abdi. Abdi sighs and looks over his shoulder at Matteo, but Jonas is not as easily convinced.

“Luigi doesn’t want to talk to you. Leave him alone.”

He looks like he will not shy away from decking David one if he comes closer to Matteo, but he seems to have forgotten Matteo doesn’t like to make a scene. He steps around Jonas and stares at David.

“What is it?”, Matteo asks, softly as always, his voice neutral. David wants to reach out, swipe the blonde mane out of Matteo’s eyes. They seem so dull, and it aches David. He puts his trembling hands in his pockets before he can act on it.

“Can we go somewhere else?”

He pleads Matteo with his eyes, and Matteo wavers, but again Jonas intervenes.

“Say what you wanted to say, Schreibner, or leave.”

David stares at Matteo. He has no idea how to do this. The other boys are standing behind Matteo, silently, but listening. So much for privacy.

He can’t do it. He can’t come out like this, with a hostile Jonas, a subdued Matteo, and Carlos and Abdi ready to whisk Matteo away at the first sign of distress.

He hesitates.

Apparently, he waits too long, because Matteo sighs. His eyes become ever duller as he turns away.

“Bye, David,” he says, and it sounds like a farewell forever.

And that is just not possible. David thought he couldn’t talk in front of the boys, in a crowded pub, but he can. He can do everything if the alternative is losing Matteo.

“Matteo, wait!”

He puts his hand on Matteo’s arm in a reflex, tries to stop him from leaving. Matteo turns slowly, looking at where David’s hand is touching his skin.

David still hasn’t thought about how he wants to say it, but he doesn’t care anymore. All he cares about is Matteo.

“I have female parts.”

Silence hangs low and heavy, and it takes an eternity for Matteo to utter an undignified “Huh?”.

“You said girl’s parts are gross… that they don’t turn you on… and I panicked. Because I have them. I’m trans.”

It seems like Matteo stopped breathing. It seems like nothing moves, even though people are shuffling by them to get a drink, and the dance floor is exploding just behind them, and a couple is making out against the wall, less than two meters away. David doesn’t hear the music, doesn’t feel the drums vibrating through his body. He is unaware of everything, even his own breathing has become blurred somehow. All his senses are focused on Matteo.

“Okay.”

Everything comes rushing back in a nanosecond, the music, somebody pushing in David’s back to pass, the stickiness of the floor where David is shuffling his feet, the heat in the small venue.

Matteo is standing still, and David is unsure he understands.

“Okay? But you – I mean, I – you said… Do you understand? I have… I’m wearing a binder right now, and…” He makes a clumsy gesture to his groin. “I don’t look like you.”

“Okay,” Matteo says again, and David is still thinking something is not clicking for Matteo.

“But you said women don’t turn you on…”

“But you do,” Matteo interrupts.

David shuts up, unsure what to say or do.

“And you’re not a woman,” Matteo adds.

“But I –”

“Is this why you broke up?”, Matteo cuts him off once more, suddenly seemingly uncertain.

“Yes… I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought you wouldn’t want me anymore. I was afraid you’d think I had led you on.”

Matteo nods, and it looks like he wants to say something, but he closes his mouth again. David doesn’t know what to do now. Maybe Matteo has moved on, maybe Matteo is in love with somebody else now. It makes sense. Why would Matteo wait for somebody who broke up with him over text message?

“So are you saying you still want to be with Matteo?”, Carlos’ voice drifts through the haze.

David nods, his head hung low.

“I get it if I’m too late. But I love you, Matteo. I always did and I think I always will. Please, can you give me just one more chance?”

He closes his eyes, afraid of the answer. What if Matteo says no?

Then he feels two hands on his cheeks, and somebody gently lifts his head. He refuses to open his eyes though, pressing them close harder to keep the tears that are amassing from spilling. And then – then Matteo kisses him softly on the forehead, on his eyelids, his cheeks. David opens his eyes, letting the tears spill. Matteo’s eyes are wet too, and he leans in. David answers, and then they are kissing again, like all those times before, and yet so thrilling and new. There are no more secrets between them now, and David smiles into the kiss, feeling home and safe for the first time in months.

The boys cheer, and they let go of each other for a second, to smile back at them.

“If you ever as much as think about hurting Luigi again, David, I swear to God…”, Jonas says, but he has a smile on his face. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because David doesn’t plan on causing Matteo any pain whatsoever ever again, for the rest of their lives.

From across the pub, he sees Laura take a satisfied sip of her wine, thumbs up at David, and he blushes, hiding his face against Matteo. Yeah, he is still totally besotted with Matteo. He’s not ashamed to admit it. Who could blame him for that, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any comments?
> 
> <3


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: “Do you trust me?”
> 
> <3

It’s only because Carlos and Kiki say it all the bloody time, that David first realizes he and Matteo don’t.

They’ve said those words to each other only once – well, Matteo did twice, because David couldn’t believe his ears when he had heard them, in that empty pool, when David had thought he had lost everything he ever held dear.

He suddenly wonders why they haven’t said it to each other after that. They never discussed it, it just happened. They say other things, like “I missed you” and “My boyfriend” and “You’re so hot” and “Let’s go home, I want to be alone with you”, but they haven’t said those words. Don’t they feel like that anymore? David knows he does – but maybe Matteo…

What if Matteo regretted the words after he said them? What if Matteo doesn’t want to say them anymore, because they wouldn’t be true?

But then Matteo arrives. His class ran late again, and David can see Matteo is stressed and tired. But when he spots their group, and David, his face lights up. He plops down next to David – next may be too generous a description, “half on top of David” is closer to the truth – and he takes out a bag with David’s favourite bagels.

“I quickly went by the bakery between lectures, I know you have a three-hour class this afternoon, you need sustenance.”

And David looks at Matteo, who thinks this is normal, thinks this is nothing, is already tearing into his sandwich, and David knows Matteo still feels it, too.

Matteo doesn’t need to say the words. Matteo says it with bagels. And David replies with calming scratches on Matteo’s scalp, as Matteo lays his head in David’s lap, and looks up at him with his blue eyes full of light, a half-smile around his lips.

Matteo said it a hundred times that night in the pool, when he sat next to David and played silly games with him, and would have sat there for a week if that was the time David needed to be able to go out in the world. He said it when David finally brought him home, when he kissed David with all the pent-up passion and desire of weeks of longing, and then he said it again when he went all still and admitted to being nervous. He said it when he declared everything to be good as he was holding David close.

Matteo says it when he lays his head on David’s shoulder when they are out with the gang, or hooks their ankles together, or pokes him in the sides, just to touch him. He says it when he runs a finger unthinkingly over David’s bare arm, not paying attention to the conversation, lost in David. He says it when he cooks for David, and when he helps David with his movie projects, and when he beams with pride when David shows the results to their friends.

He says it when he pulls David’s hair, when he wrestles with him, when he demands to be kissed.

He says it when he lets David choose the movie, and then again when he complains all the way through it. He says it when he lets David win at Zelda. He says it when he loses with table tennis after three minutes, and then cheers on David, and rewards him with kisses when he wins.

He says it when he puts a blanket over David when they cuddle up. He says it when he calls David after his appointments with his therapist. He says it when he steals David’s sweaters.

He says it when David drags him along to yet another abandoned building, and David asks him, “Do you trust me?” before they enter into a dark and damp and cramped hole or tunnel, and Matteo rolls his eyes dramatically and kicks at David’s shins but then says, deadly serious, “With my life,” and means it, too.

And he says it when he doesn’t blink his eyes when David needs to keep his shirt on when they are intimate, when he keeps checking in whether David is okay, when he lets David take the lead almost every time so David can decide what he can handle. He says it when he is so careful to not let his hands wander when David feels dysphoric. He says it when he marks the date for David’s operation in big bold letters in his phone.

He looks at Matteo, still chewing on his sandwich, unaware of how David’s been staring at him for the past five minutes, when Matteo suddenly looks up, and then turns his head to kiss David’s thigh. It tingles, and David can’t help a shiver.

He hopes Matteo knows David says it too, all the time. When he lets Matteo think things through, biting his lips, ignoring his impatience, waiting until Matteo is ready to speak. When he bullies Matteo into studying, and then when he is so gratified when Matteo aces his tests. When he draws Matteo over and over again.

And then he decided he won’t take any chances. What if Matteo doesn’t know? What if Matteo worries that David, maybe, doesn’t feel it anymore?

He wants to make it clear.

He suddenly stands up, grabbing Matteo’s hand.

“Come on,” he says, tugging. He’ll skip his class. This is important.

“Where are we going? David, what’s going on? Don’t you have class? David!”

David ignores Matteo’s queries. He’ll figure out where David is leading them soon enough. And then, when they are underwater, David will tell him with words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, about those comments.
> 
> <3


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Blind date set up by friends"
> 
> <3

Matteo, hidden behind a huge potted plant, stares at the guy sitting alone at the table, a steaming coffee cup in front of him.

It is him. Matteo is certain of it. He arrived at the agreed time, and he is alone.

And Matteo can’t do this. He told Jonas a hundred of times that he didn’t want to go on a blind date, that he didn’t need a boyfriend anyway, but Jonas had refused to listen, and now Matteo is watching a guy who is so clearly miles out of his league, and he curses Jonas, again and again and again.

The guy is looking around, checking the time on his phone. Matteo hides even deeper in the corner. He is twenty minutes late now. His date is obviously already irritated, and he has every right to be. Nothing good can ever come of this. Jonas’ classmate will take one look at Matteo, with his messy hair and his twelfth-hand sweater which probably has pasta sauce stains on it, and he’ll bolt as fast as his legs can carry him.

Matteo might really just as well leave.

So that is what he does.

He creeps back out of the door, shuffles home in shame and embarrassment, slinks into his bedroom, and hides under the blankets for the inevitable.

It comes less than thirty minutes later.

Matteo answers his phone, swallowing deeply.

“Fuck, Luigi! Where are you? You better be lying dead in a ditch somewhere, or I’ll come kill you myself. Why did you stand David up?”

Matteo takes a deep breath.

“I told you, Jonas, it was always a bad idea…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Luigi, why are you like this? How long are you gonna let that thing with Felix determine your life? Yeah, he cheated. That doesn’t mean you’ll never find anybody else, man! And David is not like that. I told you Felix was bad news from the start, and I’m telling you David is a good guy. Trust me for once.”

Matteo doesn’t answer. Even Jonas doesn’t know the full extent of what had happened with Felix. He told the boys Felix had cheated on him, and left it at that. The boys had even been proud of him for breaking up with him instead of giving him a second chance. Matteo had been too ashamed to say it had been at least the third time, and that Felix himself had boasted about sleeping with others basically all through their seven-month relationship. He’d told Matteo he had to, because first, Matteo had made him wait for months before consenting to sex, and then when he finally did, apparently, he wasn’t worth anything in bed. And then he had broken up with Matteo, not the other way around. But the boys didn’t need to know that.

It has been nearly two years, and the squad has been trying to get him to go out with other guys almost as long. Matteo has been holding off, first saying he needed to get over Felix, then finding any excuse he could think off, until tonight’s disaster. Maybe now Jonas would finally give up, realize that Matteo is a lost cause.

“Sorry,” he finally mumbles into the phone, after what seems to be an eternity.

Jonas has calmed down considerably too, but still he sounds upset as he replies.

“Stop with the excuses. Just get yourself out of that fucking pit of self-deprecation. I’m arranging a new date and you’re going, even if I have to drag you down myself.”

He hangs up before Matteo can protest.

Matteo has to swallow back a sob. Now Jonas is angry at him, too. Not that Matteo doesn’t deserve it. He is pathetic. Anybody else would be long over it. Anybody else would be grateful for friends who are looking out for them, setting up blind dates with handsome guys. But not Matteo. Matteo chokes, and runs, and stands up perfectly innocent boys.

He thinks about the dark-haired boy sitting in the café. He looked nice, Matteo contemplates. Kind. Handsome, too, with curly hair and tan skin. And Jonas vouched for him. And he is not five years older than Matteo, like Felix, and maybe he is more experienced – who isn’t at this point – but at least Matteo is not a blushing virgin anymore. Maybe Matteo should have given it a chance. If he had said as little as possible, if he had not drunk anything for fear of dropping it all over himself – or even worse, his date, if he had somehow managed to not stumble over his own feet or stutter or fuck up something else somehow – oh, who is he kidding. David would still have thought him to be some creepy weirdo and nothing would have come out of it.

Matteo is brought back to the here and now when somebody knocks on the door. Probably somebody visiting Hans, or maybe Victoria. He buries himself deeper under the blankets, waffling whether to call Jonas again, dithering between saying he’ll go out with David and begging Jonas to let go.

The knocking on the door gets more insistent. It is louder than before, and before long, whoever is under the other side is just banging non-stop.

Fuck. Is nobody going to open up? Matteo presses his pillow over his ears, but it doesn’t mute the sound. Oh, fine.

Matteo gets up and stomps to the door, yelling for Hans, and jerks it open.

“Hi,” the boy says, his fist still lifted to drum on the door once again. “I’m David. You owe me a date, I believe.”

And there Matteo stands, in dirty pajamas, his face blotched, his hair messier than ever, less than a meter from the guy he stood up an hour ago.

His mouth falls open, and he is sure his eyes are bulging.

Fuck. Now he doesn’t just look like an inconsiderate slob, he looks a mute fish, too.

He tries to say something, but no sound comes out.

“I brought coffee, and pastries,” David continues. “Can I come in? I promise I’ll leave when I’ve finished my drink. I swear I’m not some creepy stalker, even though it must look like it right now.”

And what can Matteo do but step aside, and let David step across the threshold?

And then, he thinks, well, what the fuck. David has already gotten the absolute worst Matteo has to offer. He has been stood up by Matteo, and he is still here. He has seen Matteo looking like shit, and he still goes to sit down on the couch, and holds a steaming to-go cup out to Matteo. So really, he has nothing to lose, has he?

And so he sits down, and he isn’t nervous at all, and he sips his coffee without spilling it, and he talks about his computer science classes and how he loves cooking, and David seems pleasant and interested and even slightly impressed. And when the coffee and the pastries are gone, Matteo gets out some beers and snacks and they watch a movie on the old uncomfortable flat share couch.

Not bad, for a blind date.

***

Matteo doesn’t know what woke him, and it takes him a minute to get his bearings. He is disoriented and warm, and something heavy but soft is laying against him. Only when he notices the flickering light of the tv screen does he realize he fell asleep watching a movie with –

David.

He now realizes the warm weight on his shoulder and chest is David.

He stills his movement, not wanting to wake the boy up. In the dim room he can make out David’s face, relaxed and open. His fingers ache to touch the curly hair, but he hesitates, afraid of being too forward, of messing things up before they even properly started.

The evening has been wonderful. They talked, and laughed, and joked, and maybe even flirted a bit – though Matteo doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. David is perfect. Matteo can’t believe he is here, sleeping almost in Matteo’s arms, after he has stood him up earlier. He would have missed out on this soft-spoken, caring boy.

God. Matteo knows he is moving way too fast, but he can feel himself falling for David already, and it is not frightening at all. It feels right, it feels safe, it feels like it is meant to be. And to think he might have never even met David, because he was too much of a coward to walk up to him earlier.

He needs to thank Jonas for giving David his address. He needs to thank David for coming over.

Right when Matteo has reached this conclusion, David stirs. He wakes, slowly, and stretches his arms above his head, knocking Matteo in the shoulder.

“Oh, shit, sorry,” David mumbles, his voice hoarse with sleep – and it just might be the sexiest sound Matteo has ever heard.

“Thanks,” Matteo blurts out, and David laughs. It is not mean, however, or deprecating, and Matteo relishes the teasing lilt to David’s voice when he speaks again.

“Do you always thank people for hitting you?”

“No, that’s not what I was thinking you for,” he replies, a bit embarrassed. “I meant, uh… You coming over here. I shouldn’t have left the café like that. You should have been angry with me, and instead, you brought our date here. So, uh, yeah. Thank you.”

“You were there?”, David asks, softly. “At the coffee shop?”

“Uh, yeah.”

It is silent for a moment.

“Why did you leave then?”, David whispers then. “Were you… Did I disappoint you?”

He suddenly sounds unsure, vulnerable, and it is such a change to the confident David appearing at his door that it throws him off for a second. Then David’s words get through to him and he protests immediately, vehemently.

“No!”, and then, calmer, “No, that’s not – I thought I would disappoint you…”

They look at each other, dark eyes meeting blue. Matteo takes a deep breath.

“I thought – I thought you were out of my league. And I – I was so nervous, I’ve never really been on a first date, and I was afraid of fucking up. And I have only ever had one boyfriend, and it didn’t actually go all that well, and – well. I was afraid, that’s all.”

He shuts his mouth, overly conscious he is rambling, half sure that David will not be interested in him anymore after his embarrassing confessions.

Then David moves, and Matteo knows he is going to get up, leave – but he doesn’t do any of these things. He cuddles up closer to Matteo, and Matteo almost automatically puts his arms around David, and David hums with contentment.

“Jonas said something about an asshole ex. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Matteo nods, and his chin ends up resting on David’s head. This time he gives in to the urge to slide his fingers through the curls, and in the dark, he finally finds the courage to tell somebody what happened.

“Jonas thinks I broke up with him because he cheated. But in fact, he cheated, and then told me it was my own fault, because I couldn’t satisfy him, and then he left me.”

The words are spoken softly, slowly, but they hold so much power. It is freeing, to finally admit it out loud, to let go of some of the control they held over Matteo.

David lifts his head.

“What a fucking asshole,” he says, looking straight at Matteo.

“Yeah, well.” Matteo shrugs. “Just so you have all the facts from the start, I guess.”

He laughs, his usual self-deprecating laugh, but David shakes his head.

“I doubt that. I – I worry I might not be able to satisfy you, if we ever – you know…”

Matteo hadn’t even dared think that far ahead. They haven’t even kissed yet – although he thinks they will, soon. He has a feeling it will blow his mind. And David talking about going even further makes his blood thump through his veins.

“Why would you ever think such a thing?”, he murmurs, his lips very close to David’s cheeks. “I don’t believe that.”

Because he is so close, he sees David’s breath hitch, and something appears in his eyes – is it fear? Uncertainty?

“I have a secret, too,” David breathes against Matteo’s shirt. “All the facts on the table, then. I – I am transgender.”

He waits, his breath bated, his eyes down.

And Matteo is not the most educated person on these matters, but he already knows he couldn’t care less.

“Okay”, he says, simply, worried it might not be enough, but David lifts his eyes, and now they shine with something deep and wild and inviting.

“Okay,” David replies, and it makes Matteo feel like he has just conquered an entire empire, climbed Mount Everest, slain the dragon, freed the princess – or the prince. He feels invincible.

“It’s late,” he says, and lets his voice trail off.

David nods.

“I don’t feel like going home.”

“Stay?”

They don’t speak after that.

They take quick turns in the bathroom, reluctant to let go of each other, and then they carve out a spot under the blankets in Matteo’s bed. And then, finally, covered up completely, in a world of their own, their lips find each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment if you like!
> 
> <3


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Painting the house that ends in a paint fight and giggles"
> 
> <3

Just his luck, to be paired with Matteo. Out of all the people who had come to help Carlos and Kiki, David had to end up on painting duty with the one person he didn’t get along with.

Oh, he didn’t outright hate him, but he was pretty sure Matteo didn’t like him at all. The rest of the boys were great, and the girls too – but he couldn’t remember Matteo ever speaking more than the bare minimum to him. He had no clue what he had done wrong, but he had given up on the boy weeks ago.

It was a pity, really, because for some reason he couldn’t rationally comprehend, he felt drawn to Matteo. He wanted to swipe the messy blond locks out of his blue eyes and see what Matteo hid in their depths.

The only time Matteo had contacted David out of his own volition was after David got outed, when he had run to his godmother’s house and had nearly decided he wasn’t coming back. Matteo had sent him a text, out of the blue. It had been some meme, in typical Matteo fashion, and then something about a hang out with the guys at his place after the last exam. It was that, the easy assurance that David was just one of the boys, the quiet way in which Matteo made it a foregone conclusion that David would be back in town by then, and the simple, no-fuss manner of it all, which had convinced David to come back. He had wanted to thank him, but when he got back, Matteo had been his usual silent self, not speaking to David unless prompted, and then with as little words as possible, so David had not said anything.

Matteo appeared with a bunch of brushes and a bucket of grey paint.

“Hi,” he mumbled, not looking David in the eye. David sighed. So it was going to be a quiet painting session.

They got to work in silence, and somehow, they jived perfectly. David was surprised at how in sync they were. They moved around each other as if they knew what the other was going to do, they decided without words who was going to tackle which parts of the wall, and they progressed swiftly. When Kiki came by after a couple of hours with cold drinks and snacks, she exclaimed her amazement at their progress loudly, and the boys grinned at each other.

David felt something stir in his chest at the sight of Matteo laughing fully, openly. He’d seen that smile often directed at others, but it was the first time Matteo beamed at David, and he was not prepared for the impact it had.

“Dream team,” he said to Matteo, sitting down against the unpainted wall to rest for a while.

Again, Matteo surprised him by sitting right next to him and offering him a drink, then holding up his hand for a high five.

“We should probably take a good long rest, though,” Matteo said when David clapped his hand to Matteo’s, ignoring the little spark of electricity running through him at the contact.

“Why?”, David asked, honestly confused.

“If we’re done too soon, they’ll give us another room to paint,” Matteo grinned. “And I don’t mind helping, but you know, I’m lazy.”

It might have been the most he had ever spoken to David, and David felt a bit light-headed. He laughed, and Matteo smiled back, and David took it as a sign.

“Hey, uhm, I wanted to thank you, actually.”

“What? For being lazy?”

David laughed again, but then grew serious again.

“No, uh, for your text, you know… After I got outed.”

“Oh.”

Matteo suddenly looked away, his smile vanishing.

“You’re welcome,” he added curtly, standing up and grabbing his brush again. It seemed the conversation was over. But David didn’t want it to be. He stood up, and started painting again, too, but once they had established their rhythm again, he broke the silence.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, but I just wanted you to understand it was mainly your message that made me decide to come back. I thought everybody would be disgusted by me, and you just… acted so normally, as if nothing was wrong with me, and… I don’t know, it just meant a lot. We don’t have to talk about it ever again, but I just need you to know that.”

Matteo stopped painting and turned towards David.

“I just… I felt bad. Nobody deserves to be outed. I, uh, I couldn’t stop thinking how I would feel if it would happen to me…”

David stilled.

“Matteo? What do you mean?”

It stayed silent for a long beat.

“I – I am gay,” Matteo then all but whispered.

He didn’t look at David, and David got overwhelmed with the want to hug Matteo. He looked so small, as if he was burdened under this huge secret. David understood like no other how he felt, that need to hide such a crucial part of who you were.

“Hey,” he finally said, softly. “That doesn’t make me see you any different, you know that, right?”

Matteo nodded without looking at him, and suddenly David realized he had been lying. It did change how he saw Matteo. Because suddenly he understood why Matteo’s behaviour had hurt him so much, why he had wanted Matteo to act with David as he did with Jonas, why Matteo’s text message had hit him so hard. With his admission, Matteo had just made it clear to David. He didn’t see Matteo as the boy he desperately wanted to befriend any longer – now, he knew he wanted to be more than friends.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matteo carefully put down his brush, and hug himself.

“Maybe it should,” he said, turning away from David, his voice tense.

“What? Matteo, why?”

David approached Matteo, wanting to turn him around, make him look at David, but not really daring to touch him.

“Because… because…”

David waited, but nothing more came from the other boy.

“Why, Matteo?”, he asked lowly.

Suddenly Matteo turned around, and a flood of words tumbled from his lips, so fast he stumbled over them.

“Why do you think I sent that text? I wanted you to come back, not because I thought it would be better for you, but because I wanted you back in Berlin. I was being selfish, and you shouldn’t thank me for that!”

He seemed upset, and David’s head was spinning.

“I still don’t understand…”

“I’m in love with you, dammit…”

“But… but you hardly ever speak to me…”

“Because I’m nervous around you! I’m tongue-tied! I’m afraid I’ll blurt out what I just did!”

Matteo was walking around agitated now, and suddenly David realized that he had to act.

He grabbed Matteo by the shoulders and turned him around, not without difficulty, but he was stronger than Matteo, so after some struggle, he succeeded. He then threw his arms around Matteo’s shoulders.

“I’m in love with you too.”

It was Matteo’s turn to splutter a weak “What?”, but David just laughed, and leaned in.

It was at that point that the paintbrush he still had in his hand, decided to start dripping on Matteo’s back, causing the latter to yelp and jump back.

“Shit!”

For a second, they stared at each other, and then they burst out into laughter. David used the dripping brush to flick some more paint on Matteo’s shirt, and the latter retaliated by picking up his brush too, and swiping it over David’s leg.

Soon, they were covered in paint, and then David decided he had waited long enough. He dropped his brush without bothering to see where it fell, and purposely walked onto Matteo, backing him against the unpainted wall. He stepped closer, until they were chest to paint-covered chest, and he put his hands on Matteo’s face, leaving grey streaks on the skin. It looked good, somehow. And then, finally, they leaned towards each other, and they kissed.

They had no idea how long they stood there, kissing, giggling, breathing each other in, but when Kiki came to check on their progress once more, she wasn’t too impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need comments like I need air!
> 
> <3


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Having a bad day and the other noticing"
> 
> <3

Florenzi really wasn’t doing well today. He was only half present on a good day, anyway, but today it was really bad. The teacher had called on him numerous times already, only to get a vague mumble in response, and David could tell Frau Liebherz was about to lose her shit and Florenzi about to get in serious trouble.

He wondered why he even cared. It wasn’t like he and Matteo were even friends. Leonie had warned him about the guy – he’s lazy, and a stoner, and can’t be trusted, had been her words. Sara hadn’t seemed to think quite as badly about him, but what David had seen in class seemed to fit in pretty well with Leonie’s assessment.

Still, though, David felt bad for the guy. His blue eyes looked a bit dull most of the time, but today, they were puffy and red-rimmed. David didn’t think Matteo could have smoked enough to get that effect during the five minutes he had left the classroom earlier to “use the bathroom”, so there must be something else bothering the guy.

Secretly, David sided with Sara on one part of the latter’s opinion on Matteo, and that was that he was cute. He had seen guys that were objectively a lot more handsome, but somehow Matteo made messy blond hair, pale skin, oversized pants, woollen sweaters that looked like he’d raided his grandfather’s closet, and eyes blue as the sky work.

“Matteo Florenzi!,” Frau Liebherz called, and both Matteo and David startled out of their daydreams. “I have had enough! You haven’t heard a word I said all class! You’re expelled from this class, go see the headmistress about what to do.”

“Ask her to repeat the difference between the thyroid and the parathyroid gland,” David hissed at Matteo, who didn’t make a move, visibly upsetting Frau Liebherz even more.

“Uhm…”, Matteo mumbled, hesitating. “No, uh, I was just wondering, Frau Liebherz, if you could maybe, uh, explain the difference between the, ummm, thyroid and the…”

“Parathyroid,” David whispered as loud as he dared.

“And the parathyroid gland.”

Frau Liebherz looked annoyed, but started delving into the differences between the two again, and before she was ready with her explanation, the bell rang.

David had packed his stuff together in a matter of seconds, and by the time he was out of the door, he noticed how Matteo still sat on his chair, slumped over his desk, alone in the empty class.

He owed Matteo nothing.

But he couldn’t leave him sitting like that, obviously in distress.

“Matteo? Are you okay?”

Matteo barely reacted.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Thanks for earlier.”

“Uh, you’re welcome. Are you sure you’re okay though? I could go get somebody…”

“I’m fine,” Matteo snapped. David huffed. Help a guy out and get treated like shit. Should teach him to believe Leonie in the future. He wanted to walk off, when Matteo turned away his head sharply, but not enough for David to catch the tears that welled up in the other boy’s eyes.

And that was enough for him to crouch down next to Matteo, and tentatively put a hand on his arm in a futile gesture of consolation. Matteo jerked under the touch at first, but then he relaxed and sniffled.

“Hey…” David felt inadequate. “Want to go out somewhere with me? Take a walk by the river? We don’t have to talk or anything.”

Matteo looked up at that.

“Don’t – don’t you have a class?”

David shrugged.

“I can skip it.”

He didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t Matteo fixing his big blue eyes on David, and staying quiet for a few long minutes, before suddenly saying “Let’s go, then,” and moving so fast David has to jog to catch up.

They walked, and David wanted to ask what is going on, but Matteo seemed not in the mood to talk.

But then, to David’s surprise, the other boy spoke up.

“Why did you come here with me? Why did you help me out with Frau Liebherz? We’re not friends, we haven’t even talked before today.”

Damn. David had hoped not to get into that. He shrugged again, non-committaly.

“I don’t know… You looked like shit. I just figured you could use somebody today.”

Matteo’s face hardened, and David was quick to continue.

“Listen, sorry, I don’t mean anything bad. We don’t have to become best friends or anything, we don’t even have to talk about whatever it is, I just – well. I wanted to help if I could. I mean –”, he faltered when Matteo glared at him. “Yeah, uh, sorry. Never mind. I’ll just go back.”

“No, uh –”

Matteo grabbed David’s hand, and David stood still. His eyes went to where their skin touched, and when he looked up, he was sure his cheeks were burning. However, Matteo seemed a bit breathless himself, and he quickly let go of David. David felt the loss immediately.

“Sorry, I – you, you don’t have to go, I mean.”

Matteo sounded a bit hesitant, and David felt the nerves emanating from the boy.

“Okay, let’s sit down then.” He found a bench and did as he suggested, looking expectantly up at Matteo, until the latter gingerly sat down next to him.

“We don’t have to talk,” David said after they had sat in silence for a while, “but if you want to, I’m listening.”

Matteo seemed to debate whether to say something or not, and David just looked around, not wanting to pressure the other boy.

Suddenly Matteo blurted out, “I’m gay.”

It came so out of the blue, that David was unsure he understood correctly. He whipped his head towards Matteo, who was watching him minutely.

“Okay,” David simply replied, and he noticed how Matteo’s shoulders sagged in relief.

“Yeah. I mean, it seems like it should be the least of my worries right now, with my dad fucking off to Italy with his mistress, and my mom in the hospital, and me having to go live with some strangers in a flat share, and failing Biology badly, and Spanish too if I’m honest, but –”, he took a deep breath, and David’s head reeled with all the info dumped on him, “somehow being gay feels like the thing that’s on my mind most. I’m afraid to tell my friends, and I have… this… crush…”

His voice faltered, and an adorable shade of pink crept on his cheeks. He turned his eyes away from David.

David didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry about your parents, and having to live on your own. And I don’t take Spanish, but I can help with Biology if you want. And as to the other thing… I think your friends would be cool with it. And if they aren’t… Well… I am kinda into a boy too.”

Matteo’s eyes flew up again, staring at David.

“You are?”

David nodded, noticing Matteo sounded a bit overwhelmed, and not trusting himself to speak right now.

They didn’t move for a long beat, and then Matteo whispered, “Is it… somebody I know?”

David nodded again, fascinated by Matteo’s blue eyes, staring into them.

“And you?”, he breathed out. “Anybody I know?”

“Yeah,” Matteo murmured.

If David had been watching him just a bit less intensely, he wouldn’t have noticed Matteo’s eyes dropping very briefly to David’s lips, and his pupils dilating slightly. As it was, though, he didn’t miss any of Matteo’s actions, and they set loose a horde of elephants in his chest.

“Who?”, he asked, bluntly, needing to know for certain.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me too,” Matteo said, and when David agreed, he started counting. “On three. One, two, three –”

“You,” they said simultaneously, confidently, strongly, looking each other in the eye.

David saw his own wide smile mirrored on Matteo’s face, and then, slowly, they leaned towards each other until their mouths found each other.

When they finally let go, Matteo grinned.

“Best day ever,” he said into David’s skin, and David couldn’t agree more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE TO GO!!!
> 
> Leave me a comment if you want to!
> 
> <3


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "Taking care of the other when sick or injured"
> 
> I cheated slightly with this one... I'ts kinda a sequel to #15 in this collection... But don't worry, it can be read on it's own too.
> 
> <3

Matteo had been counting the minutes, no, the seconds until they brought David back. He knew rationally that everything would go perfectly fine, but in his heart, he wouldn’t be happy until he had David back with him.

He had been praying for his boyfriend, even though he realized he might be putting the cart in front of the horse there. They hadn’t exactly had the time to discuss their status.

Finally, he could stop counting. A nurse rolled David in, stretched out on the thin bed, moving slightly.

“Is he awake yet?”, Matteo asked. “Did it go well? Will he be okay?”

The nurse threw Matteo an indulgent smile.

“He’s fine, everything went as planned, and he should wake up soon. Somebody will be coming round in a few minutes to check up on him.”

Matteo’s mind, for the hundredth time, went back to David’s words right before the operation. He hoped the valium that had given him hadn’t made him a bit loopy, because if that was the case, he might not even remember their kiss. And even if he did… maybe it had just been some comfort before a scary event, nothing serious. Just because David had kissed him, and said there’d be more kissing after he would be back, didn’t mean David wanted to be in a relationship with Matteo – no matter how much Matteo wanted it.

A soft groan came from the bed.

“David? Are you awake? Is everything okay?”

David blinked a few times, trying to focus on Matteo.

“Teo?”, he said, his voice hesitating.

“Yeah, it’s me. You had your surgery, remember?”

David nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced.

“Hurts,” he breathed.

“Don’t try to move too much, okay? The nurse said somebody would come by soon.”

“Okay,” David murmured, and he closed his eyes again.

Matteo didn’t know what to do, so he just sat down on the creaky plastic chair again. He really wanted to talk to David, remind him of their kiss earlier, but what if David didn’t remember it at all? Or worse, what if he remembered it, and regretted it? Fidgeting, worried about David’s heavy breathing, he waited impatiently for the nurse to arrive.

Luckily for him, it wasn’t too long. She efficiently cranked some levers on the bed to push David into a sitting position. He opened his eyes, and looked straight at Matteo. A smile appeared on his face.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Schreibner?”, she asked, as she felt his pulse, and checked the various tubes going into his arm.

“I am in love, nurse.”

Matteo nearly choked on his own saliva, when he heard David’s heartfelt exclamation. The nurse however merely chuckled.

“Is that so, Mr. Schreibner?”

“Yes,” David gushed. “I have been for ages. I can’t help it, nurse. He’s the best boyfriend in the world. He’s so hot. I mean, just look at him!” He gestured wildly to where Matteo sat dumb-struck on his chair. “Would you believe how blue his eyes are?”

The nurse was now full-out grinning.

“I’ll take your word for it, Mr. Schreibner.”

“No, but, seriously, you can look for yourself. He’s right over there.”

Smiling at Matteo, the nurse filled out something on David’s chart as she walked off.

“Not bad, but a little young for me.”

She winked at Matteo.

“He’s perfectly okay,” she told him, as she noticed the panicky look on his face. “The anesthetics are wearing off. He doesn’t seem too confused, but even if he is a bit out of it for the next hours, there’s nothing abnormal about that. I’ll go get his discharge paperwork ready.”

Matteo felt a bit worried nevertheless. He wasn’t sure whether David was completely coherent, with all his talk about boyfriends.

David was staring at him.

“Hey, boyfriend. Any chance of a kiss.”

“Uh, David, maybe you should drink something. I can go get you a glass of water…”

He stood up, but David was remarkable fast, for being so out of things. He grabbed Matteo’s wrist and pulled him closer.

“Don’t want a glass of water. Want a kiss.”

He pouted, and Matteo melted. Oh, well. If this was just David’s anesthetics speaking, at least Matteo would get another kiss out of it, right?

So Matteo went willingly, when David tugged hard at his arm. He braced himself so as not to hurt David, and then their lips slotted together.

They may have only done it once before, but it felt like they’d been doing this for years.

“Matteo,” David whispered, when they came up for air. “Matteo.”

He sounded overwhelmed, and Matteo immediately pulled back.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this…”

David shook his head.

“It doesn’t hurt. I want to kiss you again. That was a hell of a kiss. I knew you were the best boyfriend ever.”

Matteo’s heart suddenly ached. David was spacing out because of the drugs they gave him. Matteo didn’t want to keep doing this, if it was just the anesthetics speaking.

“David, we, uh, we shouldn’t. You’re not in your normal state of mind. It’s just the anesthetics speaking. We’re not, uh, boyfriends, exactly.”

He kept watching David, and he saw confusion and pain flash through his brown eyes.

“But, I thought… Didn’t you kiss me?”

“Yeah, because you asked me too, but you’re just confused, because of the drugs. I mean, it’s okay, I don’t mind, but –”

“No,” David interrupted him, “not now, but earlier. Before my surgery. You kissed me, didn’t you?”

Matteo stopped talking.

“Uh, yeah. Do you remember that?”

David nodded eagerly.

“I do. I do, Matteo, I’m not confused or high or whatever. You kissed me, and you apologized, and I asked you to do it again. And then I said we would continue when I came back.”

It felt like a metal band had been constricting Matteo’s lungs, but at David’s words, it disappeared and he could breathe again.

“You’re thinking clearly? You’re not spacing out?”

“I am. Thinking clearly, I mean, not spacing out.”

“So, what you said earlier… to the nurse…”

Matteo didn’t dare to look into David’s eyes. It took the other boy a few seconds, but then he figured it out.

“When I told her that I have been in love with you for ages?” He laughed. “Yeah, not spacing out either. I meant it, Teo. I just…” His voice turned low, and vulnerable. “When you kissed me, I thought you felt something for me too… I’m sorry if I got things wrong…”

“No!”, Matteo yelled, a bit too loud given their surroundings.

“No,” he repeated, calmer, “You didn’t get things wrong. I, uh, I have been in love with you for ages too.”

David smiled.

“Well, what are you waiting for then? Kiss me again, dumbass.”

Matteo complied, but all too soon he broke it off again, much to David’s dismay.

“So, uh, boyfriends?”

“Yeah, Teo, boyfriends. Boyfriends kiss, you know, instead of talking.”

“Pretty sure they need to talk occasionally, too, if you think about it –”

“Shut. Up. I just had major surgery. You need to spoil me rotten right now, and I want to be kissed.”

When the nurse came back a little later with the paperwork, she wasn’t surprised in the least to find both boys on the bed, oblivious to the world around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONE!
> 
> That's the end of these little short one-shots, people! I hope you enjoyed them... But now I think I want to take some time for some longer works.
> 
> Leave me a comment if you like!
> 
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment, if you like!
> 
> <3


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